Naruto: Iron Soul
by PlaceholderName
Summary: An accident results in Naruto acquiring a unique advantage and a new instructor. Can Ebisu guide Naruto down the path of a successful ninja?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter One:

xxxx

Naruto snickered, eyeing his target with barely suppressed glee. That statue was totally stupid looking and didn't belong in this awesome park.

He'd stumbled across it maybe a month ago and was awestruck. All the bushes were carefully sculpted to resemble famous animal summons that had belonged to Konoha ninja over the decades. Each was larger than a full grown adult and had a small engraved plaque naming what clan the summons belonged to and which ninja had possessed their contract. He must have slept through a really cool class sometime in the academy, because he'd never heard that the Yondaime could summon toads. Naruto wasn't entirely certain how toads could be used in battle, but they must have been pretty damned useful if the Yondaime had bothered with them.

Naruto had stuck around for a while, admiring the bushes, until a grizzled old man with a cart of gardening supplies arrived on the scene. Awesome timing! If this old guy was responsible for the bushes, maybe he could give Naruto some tips on how to do the same with his own plants.

"Hey, mister!" Naruto had shouted with his trademark exuberance. "Are you the one that works on the bushes around here?"

The old man's head snapped around to face Naruto and his face immediately drew up into a snarl. Oh, it was another one of those folks, uh? Years of experience had conditioned Naruto to what was sure to come next.

"What the hell are you doing here, you little monster?" ground out the old man, reaching into his cart for a pair of well-honed sheers. He waved them in Naruto's direction threateningly. "Get out of here! Go on! I won't have you ruining all of my hard work!"

Momentarily disheartened and his good mood ruined, Naruto didn't make a scene. Quietly slipping away, he headed back toward the academy, plans for revenge already percolating in his mind. The old gardener should have known better.

Now Naruto was back for revenge! The seal tag he'd been saving for months was tucked safely in his back pocket. The shop keeper who sold it to him guaranteed that it would release a huge cloud of orange paint when triggered! It took only a few seconds for him to scramble up to the top of the statue and place the tag. A spark of chakra to prime it and he should have plenty of time to get awa-.

_CRUMMMPPPPT_

The pain lasted only the barest moment before Naruto's world went black.

xxxx

"_**YES, I CAN WORK WITH THIS…"**_

xxxx

Sitting behind his desk, shoulders stooped with weariness, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt every one of his sixty six years. A young ninja in their physical prime would have been hard pressed to make the trip from the capital city of Fire Country to Konoha in six hours. After receiving notice of Naruto's injury via summoned messenger bird, Hiruzen had done so in three. His bones ached and his muscles burned and he would have liked nothing more than to succumb to his exhaustion. If the gods had any mercy, when he woke, it would be to discover that the past day had been nothing but a nightmare, one of the many he'd accumulated in his long career as a ninja of Konoha. Were others not present in his office, Hiruzen would have at least been able to indulge in a pipe of tobacco to soothe his nerves, but he feared that doing anything beyond clenching his gnarled fists would reveal the tremors he'd been unable to control since first learning of the incident. Hiruzen was the Hokage, the effective military dictator of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and he could not allow his subordinates to see his weakness. "Your report, Inu?"

Dog-masked ANBU captain Hatake Kakashi bowed once and said, "Hokage-sama. As you know, we initially responded to reports of demonic chakra detected in the eastern civilian district. Upon arrival, initial evidence suggested the detonation of a high yield explosive tag or a fire technique of at least mid C-rank, leveling much of a small topiary garden. The explosion apparently caused the partial collapse of a previously unmapped bunker. It was in the bunker that we discovered Naruto Uzumaki, impaled through the abdomen by a large metal spire." Kakashi paused, as if considering his next words. "My medical expertise is limited, Hokage-Sama, but I have seen more than my fair share of battlefield injuries, and Naruto's were undoubtedly fatal. If not for the Kyuubi, whose chakra initially led us to the bunker, Naruto would have succumbed within moments."

"Where were Naruto's minders during the events that led us to this…situation?" The urge to assign blame was strong. Hiruzen pushed it aside with effort and waited for a response.

Kakashi tensed briefly and Hiruzen got the impression that the silver-haired jonin was scowling behind his mask. "Naruto has grown quite adept at slipping the proverbial leash, sir. From my own inquiries, I can only assume that he deliberately lulled his ANBU escorts into a state of complacency. For the past two weeks, Naruto has not deviated from his normal routine to any great extent and has limited mischief to classmates and academy faculty. Once their guard was dropped, Naruto was in the wind, so to speak."

Hiruzen mentally counted to himself, slowly working backwards from ten. There was no sense in allowing his anger to consume him at the moment, even if he very much wished to break open the heads of the so-called elite operators of his village to check whether or not their skulls were empty. To be outwitted by a poorly trained and not terribly bright ten-year old child, it was just disheartening to discover that his ninja could fall so far. With a sigh that revealed none of his contempt or suppressed rage, Hiruzen spoke, "We will discuss that matter at a later date, Inu. I apologize for interrupting. Please continue with your report."

With that very minor disaster averted for the time being, Kakashi continued, "I immediately dispatched a runner to acquire medical assistance from the hospital once it was determined that Naruto was still alive. Neko attempted to check Naruto's vitals, but was burned by the cloak of demonic chakra enshrouding Naruto. I unsuccessfully attempted to give Naruto a blood replenishing pill." Kakashi brought a bandaged hand from behind his back. "Though the burns we received are relatively minor, the demonic chakra disrupted Neko's diagnostic technique and rendered the blood pill inert. Roughly three minutes passed before medics arrived." And here was where things started to get really weird, and that was on a scale that already involved a child with an all powerful demon sealed in his gut. "In that short span of time it became apparent that the Kyuubi was not only sustaining Naruto despite his injury, its chakra was also interacting with the spire that had inflicted the injury. The spire was visibly shrinking, almost as if being melted."

"Did you by chance view this process with your sharingan?" Hiruzen queried. They were getting to the crux of the matter now. The Kyuubi should not have been able to interact with the outside world, not at this point in time, and definitely not before Naruto consciously accessed its chakra. He and Jiraiya had studied the seal imprisoning the demon and poured over Minato's notes on the subject. Never had they come across any such possibility.

"I uncovered it the moment we entered the bunker, sir." Kakashi's implanted sharingan eye did not possess the byakugan's ability to perfectly discern chakra, though it did provide some measure of enhanced chakra perception.

"And what did it reveal?" Hiruzen prompted Kakashi.

"The seal itself was visible as a chakra construct and appeared intact, sir, though the flesh it was engraved upon was pierced almost directly through the center and torn away. At the time, we assumed the Kyuubi was working to dissolve the spire in an attempt to save Naruto." Kakashi did not likely attribute any altruism to the demon, Hiruzen felt. He knew that Naruto's death signaled the end of his tenant.

Though he would have preferred to question Kakashi further, Hiruzen felt his remaining chakra wavering. There wasn't much left in his coils after his mad dash back to the village. "Very well, Inu. Please continue your investigation. I want details on this heretofore unknown bunker Naruto discovered; age, contents, creator and so on. On your way out inform my secretary to send any representatives from the hospital directly to my office, so long as they are bringing news of Naruto's condition."

Kakashi bowed and disappeared from the room in a wordless body flicker.

Hiruzen retrieved a soldier pill from an inner pocket of his robe. He'd taken three so far today. Given time elapsed between doses, his age, and relative chakra capacity, he should be able to ingest two more before risking poisoning or permanent damage. The pill had barely passed his lips when a ninja in the garb of the medical corps hurried into his office. Mitate, if he recalled correctly.

"Mitate, your timing is excellent. I do hope you have good news to give me?"

The medical ninja bowed deeply. "Yes, Hokage-sama, I bring good news." The medic's complexion was pale and the dark bags under his eyes looked almost like bruises. As he felt the fourth soldier pill of the day begin to flood his coils with chakra, Hiruzen envied the man's simple fatigue. "The patient is now in stable condition in a medically induced coma. It was touch and go for a while, but once the demonic chakra fully receded we were able to begin administering blood transfusions."

"You had to induce a coma in Naruto?" That was odd. If anything, Hiruzen would have assumed Naruto would require assistance to regain consciousness, not the other way around.

"It was necessary, sir, to avoid what could possibly be catastrophic damage to the patient." Mitate withdrew a small scroll from his coat and placed it on Hiruzen's desk. "The full details of our findings are recorded on the scroll for your perusal, sir. To summarize, through an unknown method, though the Kyuubi was obviously responsible, a huge quantity of pure unalloyed chakra conductive iron has been absorbed directly into the patient's body." It was rare to encounter any significant quantity of the substance, as it was fantastically expensive and coveted by ninja the world over. The metallurgical secrets required to properly alloy chakra conductive iron into weapon grade steel were closely guarded by the few smiths with necessary skill to work the metal, most of whom resided in Iron country.

Mitate no doubt noticed Hiruzen's raised brows and puzzled expression. Before his Hokage could ask, he continued, "The patient's bone matter has either become coated in a layer of the metal or entirely replaced by it, though his chakra density and other extenuating factors make it impossible to know for certain at present. It is too early to tell what impact this will have on the patient's future well being. Of more immediate concern, however, is his chakra network and musculature. We've found that a great deal of muscle tissue has been replaced by a fibrous weave of the chakra conductive iron, including the heart and diaphragm. These fibers, for all intents and purposes, appear to function as regular muscle tissue so long as an abundant supply of chakra flows through them. And that brings us back to the patient's chakra network itself. I would have been here to deliver the news sooner, sir, but we had to wait for a Hyuuga to come on duty to confirm our suspicions."

The creeping horror Hiruzen had felt building during the medic's explanation of Naruto's condition – what exactly warranted a label of _stable_ nowadays anyway – was reaching a crescendo. He was too old for this shit.

"The patient's chakra network is completely intact," Mitate said, momentarily easing Hiruzen's concerns, "but every coil and all three hundred and sixty one tenketsu are totally saturated with chakra conductive iron."

Hiruzen found himself at a loss. This situation was so far outside the realm of what he would have considered possible that he simply didn't know how to approach it. He wasn't even sure what questions he should be asking the medic standing before him. Finally, he settled on a quiet, "And the coma?"

"Ah, yes sir. While the patient's altered musculature and chakra network appear to be functional for the moment, we cannot safely predict what would happen if he were to make any sudden movements. Muscles could be shredded by the iron or his very chakra coils could tear themselves from their moorings in his body."

xxxx

A/N: My first attempt at writing in a number of years, not to mention my only foray into Naruto fanfiction thus far. As far as I know I'm not journeying too far into already charted waters with this story. I've not come across anything like what I intend to write here, though the Naruto fandom is huge and new ideas rare and precious. Hopefully this will turn out fairly well. Please review, as I could use any constructive criticism to improve the story. I'm rusty and would appreciate your input.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Two:

xxxx

At first glance, you would never think the small boy in the hospital bed had been fatally injured less than forty eight hours previously. There was no complex medical equipment or arcane regenerative sealing arrays present and if Hiruzen had not been informed otherwise, he could easily have assumed that Naruto was sleeping peacefully. If he drew back the sheet covering the boy's torso and extremities, he would find no scars, just unmarred flesh and, if the report was accurate, a carapace-like exoskeleton of chakra conductive iron coating more than two thirds of Naruto's body.

The medical report crumpled in his clenched fist as he recalled its contents –

"…_according to academy sanctioned physical examination, carried out by onsite nurse on October 7th, subject Uzumaki Naruto measured 116 cm in height and weighed 28.7 kilograms…"_

That was barely three weeks ago, right before Naruto's tenth, and nearly his last, birthday.

"…_diagnostic array suggests approximately 25 to 30% of subject's biomass consumed by foreign chakra influence…"_

So much of the little boy burned away by the vile creature imprisoned within the Yondaime's seal.

"_...subject's current weight measured at 77.2 kilograms…"_

Perhaps as much as fifty seven kilograms of chakra conductive iron fused with so little flesh. If his memory served, the current market value of the rare metal was hovering a bit over a thousand ryo per gram. Hiruzen felt nauseous as he considered just how many people, even citizens of his beloved village, would be blinded by greed if this information became public. As if Naruto's life had not been difficult enough to date and didn't promise to be full of even more adversity in the days to come?

"Old Man…Hokage…you kinda…look…like crap…" rasped the unmistakable voice of Naruto, startling Hiruzen from his inner thoughts with a jolt of adrenaline and fierce joy. The coma technique had been counteracted at Hiruzen's command, but only over the hearty objection of the duty medic. The medic ninja on duty finally settled on a compromise, refusing to leave the room until the Hokage inked a powerful paralysis seal and applied it to Naruto's forehead. No one truly expected the boy to regain consciousness so quickly after such a traumatic experience, despite his literally inhuman constitution.

Hiruzen allowed himself to chuckle at Naruto's disregard for propriety. So few in the village would dare speak to their Hokage in such a manner and _those_ certainly didn't have any affection for him. Spirits momentarily lifted, he spoke, "I imagine I do, Naruto. The past two days have been most trying for these old bones. Nothing I can't handle," Hiruzen assured the bedridden child, forcing his voice to sound more cheerful than he felt. "You don't look so great yourself. How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty." Hiruzen was in motion as the word passed Naruto's cracked lips. He held the straw in place for the boy and forced him to take small sips until the cup was drained. "Thanks, Old Man."

"Think nothing of it, my boy."

"A-Am I paralyzed, Old Man?" Naruto asked after a short span of silence. "I can't move at all."

"No, no, nothing so horrible as that, Naruto. You are simply under the effects of a paralysis seal. It's just a minor precaution to prevent you from accidentally exacerbating your injuries."

"Oh, that makes sense. If I was really paralyzed, I doubt that my, well, everything would be hurting so bad." Naruto's eye crossed and he asked, "Now that I can't move, my nose is starting to itch!"

Never one to turn away a villager in need, Hiruzen reached across the bed and helped Naruto with his problem. "Do you remember how you came to be in the hospital, Naruto? You were found in a most curious location."

"Yeah, I think so." Hiruzen was well acquainted with Naruto's shifty expression by now, having had more experience than most with his mischievous young friend.

"Do not fear, Naruto, you are not in trouble, I assure you."

"Well, if you promise." Hiruzen nodded encouragingly. "I was gonna use this awesome paint tag I've been saving since summer to get back at this assh-er-mean old dude. I bet he would have flipped out when he showed up and found that ugly old statue turned orange." Naruto grinned widely, baring his teeth and squinting his eyes tightly. Ah, Hiruzen had last seen that expression a week ago when he'd just barely avoided sitting on a comically large tack Naruto managed to slip onto the chair in office. "Something didn't work right, though, 'cause I think the tag blew up. That sure explains why I'm laid up here in the hospital. I must have used too much chakra to set the tag."

Hiruzen made a mental note to look into who had decided to illegally supply high grade demolitions seals to a minor ; there was no such thing as a 'paint tag' after all, and ANBU had determined definitively that the explosion had indeed been caused by an explosive tag, a rather large one. "The explosion certainly contributed to your extended stay in the hospital, Naruto, though whatever damage it inflicted on you has already been healed."

Confused by that response, Naruto asked, "If they've already got me fixed up, how come I'm stuck in this bed, Old Man?"

How does one explain to a young boy that he may be crippled for life, never mind that his budding career as a ninja could be over before it ever truly began? Finally, after an uncomfortably long silence, Hiruzen answered, "Naruto, I want you to understand that you are a very special boy, unique even. Two days ago you survived an injury that would have killed anyone else."

Naruto's frightened 'gulp' was clearly audible. "If that crappy paint tag blowing up didn't hurt me so bad, what happened?"

"The explosion collapsed the roof of a long forgotten bunker situated directly beneath the park you were attempting to vandalize, Naruto."

Hunkering down in the uncomfortable hospital chair, Hiruzen settled in and began to explain Naruto's new circumstances in greater detail, hoping the news would not break the boy's spirit.

xxxx

"Hokage-sama, you summoned me?" The special jounin standing stiffly before his desk in the Hokage's office presented himself.

"Ebisu, please have a seat," Hiruzen said, gesturing to a nearby chair.

"Thank you, sir." Kunugi Ebisu was a skilled ninja, of that there was no doubt, but his expertise was not as a frontline combatant, infiltration specialist, or assassin. Instead, he was an exceptionally intelligent young man known for his great knowledge and the proficiency with which he passed it on to other ninjas.

Glancing over the opened folder before him, Hiruzen addressed his ninja, "Ebisu, I must admit that I have had your background vetted quite thoroughly. Few ninja instructors receive such glowing praise and every individual you have tutored in the past ten years, when independently interviewed, report that your efforts greatly benefitted their progress in the ninja arts. I am most impressed." Hiruzen would never call attention to it, for fear of mortifying the stoic ninja, but the slight embarrassed flush that rose to Ebisu's cheeks was amusing.

"I am flattered, sir." If anything, Ebisu seemed to be trying to sit up even straighter.

Hiruzen nodded then continued. "My original intent was to eventually offer you a position as a private tutor to my grandson Konohamaru. I dislike showing such favoritism, but there are appearances that must be maintained, as I am sure you are aware. While I would like to keep that option open for a later date, I have a new proposition to make for you. I assume by now that you have heard news of the injury suffered by the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Ebisu frowned very slightly, but he didn't display the open contempt most Konoha civilians and many of Hiruzen's ninjas held for Naruto. "I have heard a number of conflicting rumors on the matter, sir. Some of the tales are more difficult to believe than others. Most, however, do agree that the boy was injured so severely that only through the intervention of the demon was he able to survive."

"They are not wrong on that account." Hiruzen went on to briefly explain Naruto's condition and the concerns held by the supervising medics overseeing his treatment.

"I would like to propose a long term mission for you to train Naruto to overcome his recent injuries and the disability stemming from them, Ebisu, with myself as the client hiring a ninja of Konoha, not as your military commander. As a voluntary mission, you may choose not to accept it and there will be no negative consequences for you. In fact, no one outside of this room shall ever hear of it if you desire. This would be considered an ongoing B-Rank mission, subject to pay on a bi-weekly basis. Every six months completed during a period of up to three years will accrue the equivalent of an A-Rank mission. At the end of the three year period, if Naruto is able to join the ninja forces alongside his peers currently in the academy, I will include bonus pay equivalent to an S-Rank mission, though I will not be able to mark that as an actual S-Rank in your dossier." The terms were incredibly generous, Hiruzen knew, but he could afford it and he felt he owed Minato at least this much.

By the time Hiruzen had completed his offer, Ebisu's dark eyes were wide and his posture had lost its stiffness, too surprised to maintain. A successfully completed three year long B-Rank mission and six A-Ranks would be a true boon to his career, especially considering that the client for the missions would be the Sandaime Hokage himself. Then there was the financial windfall the missions, especially the potential S-Rank bonus pay, represented. It was an opportunity that could not be denied. "Hokage-sama, I cannot turn down such an offer. It would be an honor to help Uzumaki Naruto overcome his recent adversities."

"I'm so glad you agree, Ebisu. I can't tell you what a relief it is to me to know that Naruto will be in such skilled hands. I have no doubts that you will be able to turn him into a most excellent ninja. You will find no one more determined to succeed than Naruto." _Ha, this lightens my heart and my bank account_, Hiruzen thought with a smile. "He wants to be Hokage, you know? I could pass from this life a content soul if I live to see Naruto take up this blasted hat."

xxxx

Hospitals sucked, Naruto had decided. He'd been in the hospital for various reasons over the years, but never for more than an hour or two. At least he'd only been conscious for the last few hours. Naruto seriously thought he'd go crazy if he just had to lay here for days on end, unable to leave the uncomfortable bed; his nose had never _itched_ so bad as it did now, when the only relief he could get was to ask someone to scratch it for him. After the Old Man left, he'd bugged a nurse until she'd scratched it. That wasn't an option now, however, at least not until there was a shift change. One innocent little question – how come he hadn't had to pee since he woke up? – and that led to talk of catheters, what they did, where they went, and how the nurse he was questioning had inserted his. Without a mirror he couldn't be sure, but Naruto figured he'd probably looked like a tomato, one about to explode from sheer embarrassment.

Naruto knew that Old Man Hokage was crazy smart. You don't get nicknames like the Professor – how awesome do you have to make being called a teacher sound so badass? – or the freaking God of Ninja by being stupid. This one time, though, Naruto doubted the old guy's brains. Did he really think a stupid little accident was going to stop Uzumaki Naruto from being a ninja? Not just a ninja, but the best damned ninja who ever lived? On his way to greatness, he'd make sure to stop and take the Hokage hat for himself, too, just to prove the Old Man wrong!

First things first, though. Ninja'ing had to wait until he could take a piss on his own. And scratch his stupid nose!

xxxx

"Hokage-sama, sir," Ebisu said, a copy of Naruto's medical file tucked under one arm and a significantly larger one, the boy's academy records, 90% of which consisted of disciplinary reports, held in the other, "if through the course of my new student's development it becomes necessary to inform him of his status as a jinchuuriki, how shall I handle the matter?"

Hiruzen sighed, expecting the question before it was asked. He'd already played a game of verbal cat and mouse with Naruto earlier in the day when the boy's curiosity led to the asking of many, many questions. It was not difficult to refocus Naruto's attention away from a path that ended with a revelation about the Kyuubi; it just left him feeling guilty and tired. "I originally planned to tell Naruto when he became a genin. Now, I will leave that to your discretion, Ebisu. If you truly feel that lack of this knowledge is hindering Naruto's development, inform me and I shall be the one to reveal the truth to him. He deserves to hear it from me since I'm the one responsible for his ignorance."

Ebisu nodded and stood. "By your leave, Hokage-sama, I would like to meet my new student now."

"You're dismissed."

xxxx

Naruto had just finished counting the ceiling tiles - for the thirty second time! – and was about to move on to trying to make the paralysis seal stuck to his forehead burst into flame with only the power of his mind when two short, sharp knocks on his door interrupted his misery. That was kinda odd. He couldn't imagine who would bother to knock. The doctors and nurses sure didn't care about his privacy if the use of catheters was a standard practice around here and the Old Man would know better than to think we would need to knock. Maybe Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku had learned he was sick and were coming to visit?

"Uh, come in?"

The man who entered the room was a stranger to Naruto. Tall and wiry, wearing a jounin flak jacket and dark sunglasses, he didn't look very intimidating. Ninja didn't have to look scary to be awesome, though, so Naruto cut him some slack there. Naruto couldn't help but recognize that well worn red folder the stranger carried. He'd seen it often enough when a teacher wrote him up for some joke or other. _Please, gods, don't let this man be the bringer of homework_, Naruto thought despondently.

The stranger cleared his throat with a cough before speaking. "Hello, Uzumaki Naruto, my name is Kunugi Ebisu and I am a special jounin instructor. I have been selected by Hokage-sama to be your personal tutor in the ninja arts."

Holy shit! The Old Man had given him his very own jounin tutor! First things first…

"Hi! Will you scratch my nose?"

xxxx

A/N: I'd forgotten how much fun it could be to write. Comments and criticism appreciated.

Published: 5/29/2012


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Three:

xxxx

"For the duration of our association, Naruto, you are you are to refer to me as either Master or Sensei."

"Er, sure thing, Sensei!" Really, it was the least Naruto could do. Ebisu had scratched his nose. "So, when are we gonna get started? I'm so bored! Hey, Sensei, why don't you go get the Old Man so he can take this seal off? I know he said it was for my own good, but I'm going crazy here! I really want to prove to him that I can still be a ninja and I can't do that stuck in this bed all day." Naruto would have reiterated his point a while longer had he not run out of breath.

The jounin instructor's brow twitched at hearing the Sandaime Hokage referred to as 'the Old Man'. Before his charge could regain his verbal momentum, Ebisu said, "Calm yourself, Naruto. There is no need to involve Hokage-sama. If you promise not to move a muscle until I say otherwise, I will remove the paralysis seal now."

"Really? Awesome! You must be a pretty hotshot ninja if you can undo something the Old Man made. I promise not to move." Naruto really hoped Sensei gave him permission to move in like a minute or two, 'cause otherwise he might end up breaking that promise; totally by accident, of course.

"Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of sealing techniques could disable this seal, Naruto, as you will no doubt learn under my tutelage." Ebisu touched a single finger to the seal adhered to Naruto's forehead, channeled a small surge of chakra through it, and commanded, "Release!" The small square of paper peeled away easily, and though Naruto kept his word and did not move, his body relaxed noticeably.

Naruto watched as Sensei closely examined the Old Man's seal before neatly folding it and tucking it into a pocket in his vest. "As expected of the Professor, his seal work is impeccable."

_Duh_, thought Naruto, _the Old Man's a beast!_

"Now then, Naruto, I want you to use your dominant hand – that's the hand you use to write and throw weapons most proficiently with – to very slowly reach for your nose. Keep in mind that excessive haste on your part could lead to a crippling injury that not even the legendary medic ninja Princess Tsunade could correct."

Right, Sensei, no pressure there at all! Slowly, even more slowly than the time he slipped a live frog into Ino's kunai pouch without her noticing, Naruto brought his arm from beneath the thin sheet. When he finally got the arm uncovered almost three seconds later, the young ninja-to-be realized that he _couldn't_ move his arm faster even if he wanted to. He would have squawked in wide-eyed terror at this unpleasant revelation if not for the sight of his arm. _What the hell?_ Maybe he should have paid a bit more attention when the Old Man was explaining his new condition, instead of just nodding along whenever a word he'd never heard of was used. So, 'partial exoskeleton' meant that he had built in body armor now to go along with his metal bones? _That's awesome! I'm gonna be the toughest ninja ever!_

Ebisu remained silent as his student surveyed his modified state. Reading the medical report or being briefed by Hokage-sama did not do justice to the alteration Naruto had undergone. The blue-tinged silver of chakra conductive iron sheathed almost the entirety of the boy's forearm and even as Ebisu watched on, the metal slowly flexed and deformed like a second skin as Naruto ever so slowly turned it this way and that to get a better view. It was obvious to the jounin that an outside intelligence had been at work when the metal was being fused, or merely overlaid, onto Naruto's flesh. The iron was too uniform in thickness, smooth and evenly distributed, stopping just short of enveloping the boy's wrist or impairing movement of his elbow.

Naruto spent another minute admiring his awesome built in armor before continuing on with his assigned task. He eventually reached his nose. It was glorious. He'd never again be beholden to another to satisfy the primal urge to scratch. "Sensei, am I going to rust?" Keeping his kunai and shuriken clean and oiled was kind of a pain in the butt and he wasn't too thrilled about having to take a shower every day, either. If he had to bathe and oil himself, that was gonna suck.

Ebisu smirked slightly and it was the first time Naruto had seen anything resembling a sense of humor from the man. "I find the possibility highly unlikely, Naruto. Chakra conductive iron, the metal that you have so thoroughly been bonded with, has many special properties. Among them is resilience bordering on indestructibility, so long as an adequate supply of chakra flows through the metal. With my own senses to confirm the medical ninjas' and Hokage-sama's observations, there is certainly more than a merely adequate amount of chakra flowing through the iron."

"Whew, that's a relief. You're really smart, Sensei!"

His Sensei nodded, silently accepting the compliment. "You did not seem to encounter any difficulty just now, Naruto. Did you experience any pain or discomfort while moving your arm?"

"Nope, it felt totally fine. Wasn't even sore from being paralyzed for so long," Naruto answered. "It was really hard to move, though. Not like I was trying to lift something heavy, just kinda-" He paused, searching for a way to explain.

"There was resistance?"

"Yeah, that's it! There was resistance when I tried to move my arm. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm still feeling resistance when I move my head and talk, it's just not as bad. I thought that was the Old Man's seal, but I guess not, eh?"

"Once more, Naruto, please use your arm to touch your nose. This time, I want you to do so just slightly quicker than before. Stop immediately if you feel any pain whatsoever," Sensei commanded.

Naruto would have complied, but he had already discovered that he _could not_ move his arm faster. "Sensei, I can't. It won't move any faster." _Is this what the Old Man meant when he said I might not be able to be a ninja?_ Naruto wondered. His awesome new armor and bones wouldn't do him a lot of good if he was slower than a turtle.

This was not the worst case scenario Ebisu and Hokage-sama had envisioned; that would have been torn flesh and a permanently crippled chakra network. It also was not the best possible outcome, with Naruto simply having to deal with the greatly increased weight of his iron infused body. Acting on a hunch, Ebisu spoke, "Naruto, I understand from your school records that your chakra control is quite poor. You do, however, know how to perform the leaf exercise, correct?"

"Yeah, I got that." Except the times the leaf burst into flames. Or the one time if became a projectile and imbedded itself in the chalkboard, narrowly avoiding Iruka's head. There had also been that one time where it got stuck to his forehead for two days. None of those incidents had happened since last year, though, so Naruto felt pretty confident he could pull off whatever Sensei was about to ask him to do.

"I want you to deliberately channel chakra to your arm when I say so. Use the absolute smallest amount that you are capable of isolating. Do it just like you are trying to stick a leaf to your palm, Naruto, but allow the chakra to diffuse throughout your arm. Are you ready?" At Naruto's hesitant nod, he continued, "Begin."

Brow furrowed in concentration, Naruto lay still for several seconds, simultaneously calling on his chakra and attempting to limit what came forth. It was very hard for him to do. Sensei was right about his chakra control.

Observing intently, Ebisu did not miss when the iron sheathing Naruto's forearm lost its silvery blue luster and became an unremarkable light gray. He also could not help but sense the quite large amount of chakra the boy had just dumped into his arm. If that was the minimum he could grasp with plenty of prep time, they really had their work cut out for them. If his hunch proved correct, chakra control would be of the utmost importance for Naruto.

Naruto felt the change in his arm and to some extent the rest of his body, he wasn't very good at just sending chakra to any one area to begin with, and in his excitement did not wait for Sensei's permission to move. With no effort at all, just like it was supposed to work, Naruto was able to flex his arm, elbow, wrist, and hand unimpeded. "Sensei, I hope you aren't allergic to ramen, because I owe you a bowl or three!"

Ebisu was expecting some improved mobility, but nothing as dramatic as a complete return of function so quickly. "I will take you up on your offer soon enough, Naruto. Continue experimenting with imbuing chakra into your right arm, and _only_ your right arm, while I sign you out of the hospital and into my care."

xxxx

Face still red with embarrassment, Naruto grumbled unintelligibly to himself as Ebisu rolled him out of the hospital in a wheelchair. Would it have been too much to ask for someone to knock him out before sending the nurse back in to remove his catheter? At least he'd been able to admire his new armored form after the nurse left. The Old Man had not been kidding. Most of the surface of his arms, legs, chest & abdomen, and even his back were covered in a smooth layer of super rare iron. It was really heavy, too – he probably weighed a lot more than Chouji now! – but he didn't feel any different as long as he kept a steady background hum of chakra flowing through his body. It wasn't hard to do. While his control was crap, no one could ever claim that Uzumaki Naruto didn't have chakra to spare.

"Hey, where are we going, Sensei? My apartment is back the other way," Naruto commented when his mortification receded enough for him to pay attention to his surroundings.

"You will no longer be living in your apartment, Naruto. I have made arrangements, with Hokage-sama's approval, to temporarily change your place of residence to my home. This will allow for maximum time spent training. Additionally, your new condition has never been encountered before and there is any number of potential medical complications that could arise." Naruto gulped at that announcement. "Though I am not a medic ninja, my first aide training is comprehensive and I have been briefed on many symptoms to look out for in case your health begins to deteriorate. If you do not wish to share a home with me, however, other arrangements can be made. I believe the medic in charge of your case felt that long term observation in the hospital was the best course of action."

Naruto felt he was justified in panicking just a little at the thought of having to _live_ in the hospital. "No, no, Sensei, I'd love to live with you! Can we at least stop by my apartment to get my stuff?"

"Once you are settled in, I will visit your apartment and retrieve any items you need. Hokage-sama has indicated that the apartment will remain in your possession, so that you will have a place to return to once you become a genin."

That was pretty cool of the Old Man. "Does your place have windows? My plants will die without lots of sunlight!"

Unseen by Naruto, Ebisu rolled his eyes. "I assure you, Naruto, I do not live in a cave."

xxxx

Hiruzen studied the ancient, debris strewn bunker Naruto had stumbled across so very explosively. _Bunker_ was not the most fitting description for the space. It certainly did not appear to have been constructed to withstand the forces he would have had in mind when envisioning a bunker and no entrance or exit beyond the hole blown in the ceiling had been discovered. Perhaps it had been the basement laboratory of some long ago demolished surface dwelling? Approximately ten meters in diameter, the circular subterranean room was decorated with what had to be the largest seal array Hiruzen had ever seen. Even the most casual inspection revealed individual seals to gather, store, and focus chakra, seals to regulate chakra flow, others designed to promote expansion, and many more, all of them linked together for some greater purpose. Etched into the stone walls and floor, the array's focal terminus appeared to be the platform upon which Naruto landed.

Naruto's dried blood covered much of the altar-like platform as well as the remainder of the iron spike that impaled him. Most of the iron had been eaten away by the Kyuubi's chakra and infused into the young boy, but a considerable portion remained. It was worth a fortune, but Hiruzen did not intend to sell the metal or even catalogue its existence. He had an idea that it may prove most useful to Naruto one day. For now it would be hidden, kept secret to avoid tempting his more avaricious citizens.

Creating a shadow clone, silently and without hand seals, was child's play for the so-called God of Ninja. The chakra construct knew its purpose immediately. It accepted the large blank scroll and writing kit handed to it by Hiruzen and went to work documenting the extensive array. Once finished with this task, it would create another clone to deliver the scroll to the original, and then use the remainder of its chakra to destroy the array and fill in the room with an earth element ninjutsu technique.

Leaving his duplicate to its work, Hiruzen turned his attention back to the altar. A single sharp blow from a chakra-infused fist shattered the platform. As broken stone fell away, much of it reduced to pea-sized gravel by the force of the Hokage's strike, Hiruzen discovered the iron was not merely fastened to the uppermost portion of the altar as he assumed. Instead, from the wide base that rested atop the altar, a double finger-width rod plunged down into the earth below. When the clone cleared the rubble away, he suspected it would find that seals were be engraved up to the very edge where the iron rod pierced the floor. Hardly displeased to discover there was even more of the rare metal, Hiruzen wrenched it free from the ground and tested its weight in his age-spotted hand.

This was far more than Hiruzen expected to find. More than he could in good conscience gift to Naruto. Chakra conductive iron was precious for a damned good reason; even a small amount forged into what would otherwise be an ordinary weapon produced a tool that was many times more deadly when wielded in the hands of a competent ninja. His son's dual trench knives were a prime example of just how effective a bit of this iron could be. It took but a moment to seal the treasure away in a previously prepared storage scroll. He would divvy up portions for Naruto and what he intended to donate to the ninjas of Konoha later.

Hiruzen leapt through the hole in the ceiling and addressed the pair of ANBU standing guard over the site. "Make sure my shadow clone is not disturbed. When its task is finished it will take care of removing the chamber as a hazard." With that, the Sandaime Hokage body flickered away.

xxxx

"How come I can't walk on my own, Sensei?" Naruto asked with some irritation. It was embarrassing to be seen by the whole village as he was wheeled through the village like some kind of crippled old dude. Not just embarrassing, either. In the past several minutes, Naruto noticed people glancing at him, only to quickly lose interest and go about their business. Not a single villager had bothered to glare hatefully in his direction. It was weird.

"It would be the height of folly to act as if a few minutes of experimentation completely alleviated all of your mobility issues, Naruto. Due to the iron in your body your weight has nearly tripled since you last walked without assistance. This is sure to wreak havoc with your balance. I doubt you want to fall flat on your face a dozen times or more covering the short distance to my home?"

Well, when you put it that way, Sensei kinda made sense.

"There is also the small matter that the only clothing you are wearing is a backless hospital gown," Sensei added helpfully.

With a yelp, Naruto made sure he was situated in the wheelchair so he didn't accidentally give any of the pervs in Konoha a free show. It was probably that nurse's doing. She was out to get him!

xxxx

Naruto's absence from the streets of Konoha for the past three days had not really settled into the general awareness of the village. Some individuals who were accustomed to the sight of the young jinchuuriki might have taken notice, or maybe not. It was only three days, after all. There were a few, though, who were becoming genuinely concerned by the boy's disappearance. The proprietor of a small ramen shop and his daughter were already debating whether or not they should petition for an audience before the Hokage today or give Naruto another day or two to return. One small girl, timid in a way none would expect a Hyuuga to be, was a nervous stuttering wreck. Hinata knew _all_ of Naruto's favorite hangouts and even the places he only visited rarely. She'd checked each and every one of them over the past two days. Then she'd checked again. Sleep had mostly eluded the young heiress these past two nights and the effects were hard to miss.

Umino Iruka had been briefed on Naruto's condition, of course. He'd also heard quite a few disturbing rumors to go along with the official story of Naruto's accident. Iruka intended to visit his student when he received word that the boy was conscious. He'd probably appreciate a bowl of take-out ramen from Ichiraku's. The thought brought a short-lived smile to the scarred instructor's face. It was wiped away when he once again noticed the unhealthy pallor and nervousness of Hyuuga Hinata. She was a little young for it, but Iruka had noticed she seemed to harbor a pretty fierce schoolgirl crush on Naruto. It was both sad and amusing. Iruka often wished Naruto would return the girl's affections or at least notice her. Anything would be better than his reckless attempts to garner attention from Haruno Sakura. The pink haired girl did not shy from committing great violence to her unwanted admirer. Ah, children these days. They were just getting weirder and weirder.

"Class, I'm sure most of you have noticed we are missing a student," Iruka announced. He had waited to share this news, hoping against hope that word would come down of Naruto's full recovery. Since he'd been handed the boy's withdrawal forms only minutes before stepping into his first class of the day, Iruka saw no reason to delay the inevitable. It might also spare Hinata a premature nervous breakdown.

Hinata focused her attention onto the sensei with razor sharp eyes, unconsciously activating her byakugan without the slightest effort. She might have even been proud of herself if she'd bothered to take notice of the accomplishment. Instead, she devoted her full being to observing Iruka's non-verbal cues. It was something of a Hyuuga specialty, the ability to discern emotions, truthfulness, and a host of other subtle aspects of a person via those all-seeing eyes. The sensei was sad and full of regret, uncomfortable giving this news, and there was the barest hint of moisture gathering at the corner's of his eyes. _Oh no…_

"Three days ago, Uzumaki Naruto was involved in a severe accident. Due to the nature and extent of his injuries, he has been removed from the academy roster as ineligible for eventual ninja duties. If anyone wishes to send Naruto…"

The sensei continued speaking, Hinata saw. The pounding of blood in her ears made it impossible for her to understand him, though. The classroom was growing warm and her head was spinning and…THUMP.

Iruka hurried to Hinata's side. The poor girl had not taken the news well at all. She'd slipped from her seat and landed poorly, cracking her head on something hard enough to split her scalp. Hopefully she had not concussed herself; head wounds always bled a lot. He gathered the unconscious girl into his arms and spoke, "I will be back in a few minutes. There will be hell to pay if anyone gets up to mischief while I'm gone." With that parting threat, he left for the nurse's office.

xxxx

Head aching from the dispersion of two shadow clones in such a short time period and the double flood of nearly identical information they injected into his mind, Hiruzen reluctantly unrolled the scroll delivered by his duplicate. While the clones directly passed on a great deal of the scroll's contents, there was too much to remember it all in detail. Without needing to consult the scroll, Hiruzen was already certain he'd divined one key fact from his clones' memories. The seal array he'd just destroyed was of Uzumaki make and design. Beyond a few telltale seals he'd never seen used outside of that once famous clan, there were many small signs, a peculiarly twisted shunt here, a doubled up buffer there, and other clues, all reminiscent an Uzumaki seal specialist. Jiraiya might just wet himself in glee when Hiruzen showed this scroll to his old student.

Now if only a messenger toad would arrive so that he could pass word of the latest happenings to his wandering student.

xxxx

Sensei did not live in an apartment like Naruto imagined. It was actually a decent-sized house with a large walled in area out back the jounin led him to. They were well into the predominantly ninja populated district of the village. That was good. Not a whole lot of ninjas seemed to like Naruto, but very view ever went out of their way to be mean to him and that was nice.

"Cool place, Sensei! You live here all by yourself?" The pinnacle of tact Naruto was not.

"That is correct, Naruto, though it will also be your home for the foreseeable future." Ebisu locked the wheelchair's brake in place to prevent Naruto from rolling away. "Wait one moment while I disable the security array."

Naruto watched curiously as his Sensei walked up to a dull metal plate the size of a small book that was embedded in the brick wall of the home right next to the door. Even if he couldn't see which hand seal the man made with his back turned to Naruto, the effect when he placed it against the plate palm first was hard to miss. It flashed blue then black and Naruto saw what looked like tiny symbols appear on the plate between color changes. Then it was over and the place was back to normal. The front door clicked open without further effort.

As Ebisu returned to his position at the back of the wheelchair Naruto asked, "What was that, Sensei?"

"As any ninja with a working knowledge of the sealing arts should, I have taken the precaution of warding my property from intrusion."

"So people can't break in?" That sounded really useful! There had been a few incidents where he'd come home to find his apartment ransacked. It was a really shitty way to end the day.

"No security is guaranteed to be one hundred percent effective, Naruto." Ebisu was wheeling Naruto inside as he spoke. "The best we can settle for without an excessive use of time and resources is to make a target not worth the effort involved in penetrating its defenses."

Naruto didn't quite understand, though he got the gist of Sensei's explanation. "Will you teach me how to make seals like that?"

They were past the entryway and into the home proper now. "If you prove an adept enough student, I will certainly be able to provide you with at least a basic grounding in the sealing arts."

Awesome!

"You can stand now. Do so carefully and remember to use as little chakra as possible," admonished Ebisu as he closed the door behind them. "Feel free to have a look around. I will return momentarily."

Careful to hold the back of his gown closed, Naruto gratefully left the wheelchair behind and was pleased to see Sensei taking it away. If he was lucky he'd never see it again. While waiting for Sensei to return, he looked around to get a better idea of where he'd be staying. The house was not constructed or furnished in what Naruto had heard called the 'traditional' style. It sure was nice and a lot better than his run down old apartment. There was little decoration beyond simple high quality furniture and deep blue carpeting.

His Sensei returned without the wheelchair and quickly laid down the rules of the house. Don't make a mess, clean up after yourself or else, if you break it you buy it, and so on. The room he led Naruto was kinda bare, but the bed looked comfortable and there was a large window with a shelf that would be perfect for his plants. From Sensei's demeanor, he had a feeling the desk tucked over in the corner would be seeing a lot of use, too.

"Now would be a good time to start getting acquainted with moving normally while channeling chakra to your limbs, Naruto. I must report to Hokage-sama."

"If you're going to see the Old Man, could you get my spare apartment key from him? I dunno what happened to my old one. It'd be great if you could stop by and get me some of my clothes so I don't have to walk around holding this stupid thing closed. Can you bring my plants, too? They've gotta be thirsty by now. I hope they're all right."

The jounin nodded and disappeared with a body flicker. Man, that technique was so cool!

Naruto slowly walked around his new room, trying to get a feel for his new weight like Sensei said. He didn't really feel all that different. Experimentally, he tried a high kick, making sure he wasn't close enough to break anything if he messed up. Naruto didn't think he could afford to buy any of Sensei's stuff if he broke it. The kick didn't so much fail as succeed far too well. It went higher than he was expecting and much faster than he'd managed before. The end result was that he was thrown totally off balance, almost kicked himself in the face, and fell flat on his ass with a weighty thump. _I am so glad no one was around to see that_, Naruto thought with a grin. Sensei was right on the money about his balance issues, though.

xxxx

"Ebisu, I trust that Naruto has behaved himself?" Hiruzen asked with an amused glint in his dark eyes.

"He's an excitable boy, Hokage-sama, but his behavior thus far has been acceptable. I believe that he will benefit greatly from one on one tutoring. I've seen his type of attention seeking behavior before and will likely see it again. A firm hand and a constant presence will go a long way towards tempering his negative impulses." Like excessive practical joking, vandalism of important government buildings, and explosively revealing forgotten chambers filled to the brim with all sorts of interesting materials.

Ebisu was an experienced educator, no doubt about it, with several years as a chuunin instructor at the academy before moving on to his current role as a government sanctioned tutor for hire. He seemed to have a pretty good read on Naruto and had no doubt studied the boy's extensive academy file. Despite that, Hiruzen had a feeling that the man standing before him didn't quite know what he was in for if he expected Naruto to just fall in line.

"That is great to hear, Ebisu. Now please tell me what you've discovered of Naruto's condition. I've already received a message from the hospital protesting the early withdrawal of your new student from their observation."

xxxx

A/N: I'll probably keep the story at its current pace for another chapter or two before I begin accelerating the passage of time a bit to bring the timeframe more in line with the beginning of the series. This won't be one of those stories where one or two hundred thousand words are dedicated to sixth months of Naruto's childhood. I don't have the patience for it and that kind of excessiveness can make a story boring, in my opinion. I'm also going to try to keep publishing a chapter every day or two, but that may change if I decide to increase chapter size a bit.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 5/30/2012


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Four:

xxxx

If Naruto had any illusions of being able to slack off under Ebisu's tutelage, they were shattered the very first morning he awoke in his new bedroom. Sensei was a morning person; a very early in the morning, up before the sun rose kind of morning person and he insisted on Naruto doing so as well, the bastard. Groggy-eyed and unashamedly wearing his toad sleeping cap, the boy stood in Ebisu's backyard under the gray pre-dawn sky, trying to glare balefully at his Sensei. Blinking and rubbing his eyes kept ruining the effect, though.

"Now, Naruto, carefully step into the circle inked on the scroll and do not move until I say otherwise. This should take no more than a minute then we can begin your lessons for the day." Before sending Naruto off to bed the night before, Ebisu explained how every week the boy would be required to undergo a preventative reading via diagnostic seal array. It would record all of his vital statistics and other odds and ends that wouldn't normally be of concern for most people, like iron content in his blood and rate of production of new blood cells. So long as he remained healthy, Naruto need not fear returning to the hospital for a more long term stay.

Standing barefoot on the indicated area of the scroll, Naruto perked up a bit as Sensei activated it. Though he had not the slightest clue what any of the little black squiggles meant, it was neat how they turned green and started glowing. It kinda tingled, too. Less than a minute passed before the green faded back to mundane black and Sensei allowed him to step off.

"For the next hour, Naruto, I will observe as you work your way through all of the standard academy taijutsu katas you have learned up to this point. This will serve as additional mobility practice for you and will allow me to begin gauging your approximate hand to hand proficiency. Afterward, we will take a short break for breakfast."

"Can we have ramen, Sensei? Please?" Dinner the night before had been tasty, but it was not even a rough patch on a good bowl of ramen, and he'd been deprived for days now.

Despite the low light at such an early hour, Ebisu sill wore his dark sunglasses. This was good, because he would have been more than a little peeved to let his student see him lose his composure over such an inane question. "Ramen for breakfast, Naruto? I think not." He was beginning to get an idea that few of the boy's meals were anything but ramen from the incessant chattering the night before. "Now more than ever, we must assure that you eat a proper balanced diet. You are an incredibly resilient young man, Naruto, gifted with a remarkable ability to recover from damage that would kill another man. We do not currently understand how much stress is being placed on your unique recuperative abilities simply maintaining your general wellbeing." No sense in sharing with the boy their concerns that the bulk of the Kyuubi's ability to regenerate his injuries was compromised maintaining his iron-infused form.

To Naruto, Sensei's longwinded answer sounded disturbingly like a build up to saying he could never eat ramen again. _Nooooo…_

Ebisu continued, "Insuring you have all the necessary vitamins and minerals can only help your development and may very well keep you out of the hospital. You do wish to grow tall and strong, correct, Naruto?"

Naruto only responded with a quietly mumbled, "No ramen?"

"If you perform well and do not complain about your assignments, Naruto, I will consider letting you have ramen for lunch today," Ebisu relented with a sigh, noticing how despondent the boy had become in such a short time. Naruto was awfully young to already be picking up the obsessive weirdness often attributed to older ninja.

At least Naruto did not appear unduly slowed by his additional weight, Ebisu noted, as the boy plowed into him with a running tackle-hug. He had to use chakra to anchor himself to the flagstones of the courtyard to avoid being knocked over by Naruto's considerable momentum. Well, at least he knew one very good way to motivate Naruto now.

xxxx

"Chakra control exercises?" Naruto asked, taking care not to sound like he was complaining. That was the way to lose ramen privileges!

"Indeed, Naruto. When not covering course material from the academy curriculum, the majority of our time in the coming months will be spent improving your chakra control."

"How come?" No whining here, nope!

"Chakra control is the foundation of all the greater ninja arts, Naruto." Ebisu decided to take this opportunity to really drive home how essential this aspect of Naruto's training chakra control would become. "At your current level of control you could not even cast the most basic of genjutsu on a heavily sedated target. Your E-Rank transformation technique, while functional, reportedly uses as much as fifty times more chakra that should be necessary. If you attempted to prime something so simple as a freshly inked storage scroll right now it could end up blowing up in your face or fatally absorbing you into the seal. And let's not forget that your ability to move about freely is entirely dependent on channeling chakra to your limbs, Naruto. The less chakra you need to use to move about, the more you will eventually have available for other uses."

"Ah," Naruto scratched the back of his head with a grin, "chakra control exercises sound pretty good!"

"I thought you would say so." Ebisu drew a small square of blank paper from one of the small pockets of his jounin vest and handed it to Naruto. "This is a special type of paper made from trees infused with chakra throughout their growing cycle. It will respond in specific ways depending on the elemental chakra affinity of whoever uses it."

"Oh, I remember this! My chakra affinity decides what kind of ninjutsu I'll be able to use best, right?" And Iruka thought he never paid attention! Ha!

"Yes, Naruto, while you are correct," Sensei answered with a nod, "it is much too early in your training to begin working with elemental chakra; you must run before you can fly. There are, however, many chakra control exercises best suited to the various chakra affinities. Just channel a bit of chakra into the paper and we will use the results to tailor a set of exercises that should come most easily to you."

Naruto regarded the slip of paper doubtfully. Last time he added chakra to paper things had not gone so well. Sensei didn't seem worried, though. _Well, here goes nothing_.

Ebisu was just as surprised as Naruto when the chakra paper flashed blue with Naruto's telltale excess chakra then stiffened in his grip and took on the silvery blue sheen of the chakra conductive iron sheathing so much of his form. Startled, Naruto dropped the paper turned oddly shaped blade. It landed corner first and slid easily, without seeming to meet much in the way of resistance, three or four centimeters into one of the courtyard's flagstones. Sensei and student stared at the deeply embedded object in silence, one waiting for it to explode and the other wondering if chakra paper was supposed to do _that_.

A few seconds passed and without warning the altered chakra paper lost its metallic appearance and returned to normal, albeit still buried halfway through solid rock.

"This is an unexpected development, Naruto," Ebisu finally commented. He removed several pieces of chakra paper from his vest pocket and gave another to Naruto. "I did not think to time the length of the paper's transformation. Try to use the same amount of chakra as last time."

Several minutes of experimentation revealed that Naruto did not appear to have a classical elemental chakra affinity, the more chakra be imbued into the paper the longer it remained transformed, and while altered the paper turned iron could cut any substance from stone to hardened steel with equal ease. Range did not appear to be a significant factor; at least once the paper was imbued. It remained in iron form for the entire duration regardless of whether Naruto was holding it or if it was on the other side of the courtyard stuck in the wall separating the property from Konoha proper. The transformation also worked on regular paper, a leaf, a wooden chopstick, and one of Ebisu's old bandanas, though more chakra was required and the duration was shorter from one material to the next.

Though this discovery threw Ebisu's lesson plans off, it also opened up a new avenue of approach both for training and Naruto's eventual ninja career. His student's unusual ability was totally unheard of, as far as he knew. They would have to work together closely to learn the limits of its potential and to insure that Naruto developed that potential to its fullest.

"Naruto, you should be pleased to learn that you could possess an ability as unique as the Shodaime Hokage's famous Wood Release techniques," Ebisu said, aware of how well such praise would be received by the attention starved boy.

"Oh yeah," Naruto cheered, "I'm awesome!" Metal bones, kickass body armor, and now he could turn stuff into metal, too? _Look out world, Uzumaki freaking Naruto has arrived!_

"Until I can devise a set of exercises to properly develop this aspect of your abilities, we will adhere to the more traditional methods of improving chakra control. Hokage-sama has been kind enough to reserve a small neglected training ground for your exclusive use. Come, it is time to learn to climb trees."

Naruto cast a confused look at his Sensei? Climbing trees? Really? He'd been doing that since he was a little kid!

xxxx

_Okay_, Naruto silently conceded some time later as he followed along beside Sensei,_ that wasn't the kind of tree climbing I expected._

Hours of abysmal failure would have discouraged the boy, but Sensei was clear that he didn't expect him to master the ability to walk on trees and other vertical surfaces using only chakra expelled from his feet for days or even weeks. His chakra control was just that bad. It also did not hurt that they were currently on their way to Ichiraku's for ramen.

"Sensei, today the ramen is on me!" Naruto exclaimed. He'd promised, after all, and since his toad wallet had been retrieved from his apartment along with the rest of his belonging, he figured it'd be best to make good on his offer before forgetting about it.

"Thank you, Naruto." Ebisu appreciated the offer and would not throw Naruto's kindness back in his face, but it would be the last time he allowed the boy to pay for a meal while under his care. The long term mission pay he was receiving from Hokage-sama as Naruto's tutor and virtual caretaker was lavish. It would not be appropriate to squander Naruto's meager savings. Actually, giving his student a small allowance, perhaps based on his performance, would be a good idea?

"This is the place!" Naruto announced a few minutes later. "Ichiraku's, they make the best ramen in the world!"

If anyone ever accused Naruto of squealing in girlish delight that day as he hopped up onto one of the stools of the small ramen vendor, they would not be wrong. Of course they would also have to act very quickly to avoid getting punched in the face.

"Naruto, you're alive!" exclaimed the teenage girl behind the counter. With speed that would be respectable for a fairly experienced genin, she reached across the counter and gathered Naruto up in a quick, releasing him a moment later with a kiss to the cheek. Naruto blushed fiercely and wiped his cheek, but could not hide the grin Ayame's enthusiastic greeting inspired. "Father," she called toward the back of the restaurant, "Naruto's here!"

Naruto was subject to another greeting only moments later, though this one was much more manly and less embarrassing for a ten year old boy. "I was this close," Teuchi held up his thumb and index finger with a fraction of a centimeter between them, "to going to see the Hokage to find out where you were."

"Aw, Teuchi, Ayame, I'm sorry you guys were worried. I just had a little accident and had to stay in the hospital for a few days. Check it out, I've got my own Sensei now whose gonna show me how to be a kickass ninja!" Naruto's introductions left something to be desired.

Ebisu nodded in greeting to the man and his daughter, pleased to see that Naruto had found a couple friends amongst the populace of Konoha. "Kunugi Ebisu, pleased to meet you both. Naruto tells me that you serve excellent ramen."

Unable to contain himself any longer, Naruto erupted, "I'm starving for ramen! I'll have a miso ramen to start with, no make it two. Then a pork ramen…"

xxxx

Hyuuga Hinata was being escorted to the ninja academy by a Branch member of her clan after finally being given a clean bill of health, her fainting spell and subsequent bloody head wound the day before having earned her a great deal of unwanted scrutiny by various family members. Though the girl was not eager to return to the academy, she was even less inclined to spend any more time in the clan compound that necessary.

When her preternaturally sharp eyes caught sight of an unusual amount of orange crossing the street two intersections over, the normally timid girl would not be denied, despite the protests of her escort. Byakugan activated, she quickly found her target and followed along at a discrete distance. Unmistakably Naruto, she'd viewed him through her special eyes many times, the boy was also very different than she'd ever seen before. His chakra coils positively gleamed and he had chakra-infused metal all over his body! In it, too! What could have possibly happened to cause this oddity?

When she eventually gathered her courage to oh so casually walk by Naruto's favorite ramen stand, her timing was such that she heard, "…I'm sorry you guys were worried. I just had a little accident and had to stay in the hospital for a few days. Check it out, I've got my own Sensei now whose gonna show me how to be a kickass ninja!"

And all was right with the world.

xxxx

"I wonder if it is a refinement of a previously existing earth chakra affinity." Hiruzen said. He was familiar with the affinities of Naruto's parents and knew that the child of a wind natured and water natured parent would almost never be earth-natured. That was classified information that Ebisu did not need to know, however. "A pity we don't know what Naruto's affinity was before the accident."

"I have heard speculation that the Shodaime's Wood Release techniques were the result of his bloodlines' unique ability to blend earth and water chakras," Ebisu responded. "I cannot imagine what combination of elements would be needed to produce the results demonstrated by my student."

"Naruto's ability to transform other objects into iron may not be related to elemental recomposition at all, even if an application of earth-natured chakra would be a logical explanation. Maybe some sort of very fine instinctive shape manipulation?" Hiruzen shook his head and sighed. "This is all useless speculation, I'm afraid. We simply have too little data to start making such assumptions, Ebisu."

"I can't help but agree, Hokage-sama. It is a most interesting mystery to contemplate, though."

With regards to Naruto's condition and continuing education, Hiruzen had a feeling he would be having many meetings like this one in the years to come. It might be better if he just blocked in a regular time in his weekly schedule to avoid interfering with his other obligations.

"Would you mind if I paid a visit during one of Naruto's training sessions sometime soon to witness the results of his new ability?"

"Of course not, Hokage-sama," Ebisu responded forcefully. "It would be an honor and I'm sure my student would appreciate a visit from you."

"In the mean time, I have something that may serve as a training aide during Naruto's chakra control exercises." From his desk Hiruzen retrieved a portion of the chakra conductive iron rod he'd discovered the day before in the chamber where Naruto was injured. He'd trimmed the two meter long rod down into more easily handled sections of twenty centimeters each.

"Ah…is that?" Ebisu found that he was unable to address the Hokage properly so settled for shutting up lest he embarrass himself.

"A large amount of chakra conductive iron, identical to that infused into Naruto?" Hiruzen grinned at the normally unflappable jounin's minor stumble. "Yes it is. In light of Naruto's apparently overwhelming affinity for this metal, it may be prudent to introduce him to it earlier than I originally intended. There is an advanced chakra control exercise first devised by my former student Tsunade that some medical ninja now use to build both control and endurance. Are you familiar with senbon or wire bending?"

"No, Hokage-sama, I don't believe I have heard of that particular method."

"It's simple in theory, but complex in practice. The goal is to become adept at manipulating a senbon or a piece of thick wire through chakra alone, to accomplish such feats as forming loops, twists, and knots. Though it is early in Naruto's training for such an advanced exercise, I have a feeling that it may work very well for the boy. If he masters the exercise as I expect, this could be a powerful tool in Naruto's hands," Hiruzen concluded as he sealed the rod away into a scroll and passed it to the jounin.

xxxx

A/N: Now we're getting somewhere. I hope everyone is starting to get a better idea of what Naruto's abilities and limitations might end up being. I've had some questions about pairing in this story and figure now is a good time to answer. I have my preferred character pairings, like most folks, but I do not intend to make them any part of this story for a long time to come. Don't look for anything of the sort until what would be around the timeskip era from canon. Hinata's uncommonly high regard for Naruto – let's not call her an obsessive stalker, she's much too nice for that – was addressed in the past couple chapters because to do otherwise would make her character very different by the time I get the story moved along to the canon series beginning.

A very big thanks to all who have reviewed so far. ^_^

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 5/31/2012


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Five:

xxxx

"I bet this would be a lot easier if I didn't weigh a freaking ton," an annoyed Naruto muttered quietly as he once more hauled himself out of the small pond occupying the back corner of Sensei's property. The jounin created it specifically for training Naruto in water walking, first with a minor earth element technique to create the hole, a fire element technique to harden the walls and prevent drainage, then a water element technique to fill it in. The short display of ninjutsu had the boy eagerly begging to learn such awesome techniques. Sensei responded with the phrase Naruto was really getting tired of; you must run before you can fly. Grr…

Naruto wanted to get some fish to keep in the pond, but figured he'd better complete the training first. No need to traumatize the poor creatures with his repeated splashing. Sensei agreed and promised to let him pick out the fish and plants to occupy the pond once he learned the exercise.

"As with the tree climbing exercise, Naruto, your weight is not a factor in determining your success or failure. Standing upon the water is entirely dependent on your chakra supply and how well you control it. Since you obviously have an overabundance of chakra, it is only your control that is lacking." Ebisu sat cross-legged several feet from the edge of the pond, patiently observing his student's progress, or lack thereof. As Naruto struggled to walk steadily on the water, Ebisu busied himself mastering the wire bending exercise given to him by Hokage-sama three weeks prior. It was simple to practice, did not require elaborate props or specific locations, and since the jounin began working on it he had detected a very slight but noticeable increase in his chakra reserves. It had even given Ebisu an idea for a new technique he'd started tinkering with in his spare time.

Unfortunately, the exercise was of only marginal effectiveness when applied to Naruto's own efforts to improve his control. Sensei and student discovered early on that Naruto's chakra now flowed easily into metal of all varieties. No progress was made when he could imbue a senbon or length of wire with chakra and manipulate it to his will without the slightest effort. Now it was merely a supplementary exercise Ebisu had the boy practice while doing his assigned reading each evening. At this point Naruto could unwind a spool of razor sharp ninja wire in a second and make it dance to his whims. Ebisu had not mentioned the implications and he was almost certain his young student had not quite caught on to just how effective this particular skill could be in combat. There would be plenty of time for that later.

Watching once more as his student wobbled out onto the water's surface, Ebisu knew from almost a week's prior experience that Naruto would lose his concentration and fall through the surface right…about…now!

_SPLASH_

Sigh. "You've shown steady if minute progress today, Naruto. We'll give it another hour before moving on to practicing your weapon forms for the remainder of the afternoon." Ebisu was hardly a kenjutsu master, but like any good well rounded ninja, he had more than a passing familiarity with the use of swords and a variety of other lethal and non-lethal weaponry. If Naruto ever wished to specialize in the use of weapons he would need to seek outside assistance, something Ebisu planned on recommending to the boy when he reached genin rank. There was just too much potential inherent in his ability to imbue and manipulate metal not to exploit it further.

xxxx

"I really thought this would be harder than water walking," Naruto commented cheerfully. He was not accustomed to things coming so easily to him.

Ebisu could not help but agree with his student. Earth passage was not a simple chakra exercise by any means. Most ninja never bothered to learn the skill, especially when there was an earth element technique that mostly mimicked the results with a much less difficult learning curve. He watched once more as Naruto slipped beneath the surface of the earth. If Ebisu had not seen it with his own eyes, he would have been unable to discern the point where the boy submerged, so little grass had been disturbed. Several seconds passed before Naruto returned to the surface, no dirt or debris clinging to him.

"Earth passage is definitely my favorite control exercise so far!" Naruto jogged a few steps and leapt into the air before reorienting himself in a classic diving position. He darted beneath the surface must faster this time and was under much longer.

Given that Naruto spent the better part of two weeks mastering water walking, Ebisu expected this latest exercise to require at least as long. Even taking his student's improving control into consideration, three hours was just ridiculous. It would, however, make some sense if Naruto was earth element aligned; which he wasn't.

Naruto's return to the surface was much slower and more awkward than his dive. He rose to a standing position, holding his head and scowling. "I ran into a rock or something down there, Sensei."

"My apologies, Naruto," Ebisu said. "I should have explained the intricacies and dangers of using earth passage sooner. You learned this skill much more quickly than I expected."

Despite his aching head, Naruto grinned and shouted, "Yeah, I'm awesome!"

Ebisu gestured in the manner Naruto had learned to interpret as 'sit down and shut up, I have words of great wisdom to impart unto you'. "When using earth passage, you must take into account the medium through which you are moving. Loose soil and sand offers very little resistance, while rock, hard packed soils and clays, and heavily saturated areas of all sorts can be difficult or impossible to pass through. As you painfully discovered, moving at speed while unable to sense your surroundings can prove dangerous. You must also be aware of not only your depth, but the material you must pass through in order to return to the surface. Never travel to such a depth or allow yourself to become so mired in a difficult medium that you run out of air before you can return to the surface. Suffocation is a very real possibility for those who employ earth passage carelessly."

From the look on the Naruto's face, the thought of suffocating beneath the earth was an especially gruesome one.

"Though you have learned the skill in a remarkably short time, Naruto, we will spend the next few days acquainting you with passage through different subterranean environments so you will have an idea of your limits. This is also a good opportunity for you to learn how to sense your surroundings through chakra disruptions in the earth. You will not only be able to travel underground more quickly if you can detect possible hazards, you will also be forewarned if an enemy ninja attempts to use earth passage or its earth element technique equivalent, Underground Voyage, against you."

xxxx

It was Naruto's day off from training and he was making the most of it. He'd slept as late as he could, which wasn't all that late considering how long he'd been waking before sunrise. Sensei did not complain when he ate three servings of instant ramen for breakfast. Then he went on to most of the remainder of the morning hanging out with Old Man Hokage. The old dude was impressed with his improving ability to manipulate metals and had even allowed Naruto to demonstrate using the kunai and shuriken he kept in the concealed pouch hidden within the fold of his Hokage robe, restoring each weapon to pristine condition with barely more than a tap of his finger and a flare of chakra. And now his stomach was stuffed full of glorious ramen courtesy Ichiraku's. Before the day was over, Naruto planned to stop by the ramen stand for dinner, too! Ah, life was good!

Naruto loved all the training he received from Sensei and was really grateful for being able to live with him. It beat the hell out of living alone and trying to teach himself new ninja skills. The last six months kicked ass and now so did he! The other kids from his academy class wouldn't know what hit them if they saw Naruto now. That was actually why he'd ventured out into the student-only training grounds this afternoon. The area set aside for his use by the Old Man was practically on the other side of the village compared to the student grounds, pretty much making the likelihood of running into a former classmate while training a big fat zero.

In his off days, all two of them a month, Naruto had yet to find any of his former classmates, even the ones he didn't like very much. Not that he spent all day looking for them, there was just too much to do and not enough daylight to do it in, but it would be cool to know how everyone was doing, especially Sakura. He'd never admit it out loud, but Naruto kinda missed his old chuunin instructor Iruka. The man was a total stickler for the rules and could track Naruto down when he cut classes better than any ANBU, yet he was also the first academy sensei who went out of his way to be helpful or even just not much of an asshole. Maybe he could talk Sensei into switching around his next free day and he could go visit the academy while class was in session?

Even if he didn't find any former classmates, Naruto's time wouldn't have been totally wasted. Wandering from one training ground to the next, chakra senses uncannily attuned to the presence of large concentrations of metal, he had accumulated a small arsenal of broken, discarded, or simply forgotten ninja tools. His spare kunai pouch was bulging. Tomorrow, when Sensei put him back to work, Naruto knew he could use repairing the tools as an excuse to take it easy for a little while.

Preferring to traipse through the underbrush and more thickly wooded areas between training grounds instead of taking the clearly marked paths, Naruto all but stumbled onto a familiar face as he bulled his way through an overgrown bush of some sort. Inuzuka Kiba stood near the far end of the clearing, haphazardly tossing kunai at a straw dummy propped up against a tree.

Sensei's word from months ago suddenly played out in Naruto's head, "Attempting to _sneak up on_ a ninja, as you put it, Naruto, is often times easier said than done. Chakra sensors are rare among ninja, but there are many who have trained or inherited senses far beyond normal humans. I have noticed your sense of hearing seems especially acute. That trait may save your life one day. Hatake Kakashi is said to have a nose almost as sharp as the ninja dogs he summons. He can sometimes _smell _an enemy before his eyes or ears detect them." Half to Naruto and half to himself, Sensei concluded, "It would not be surprising to discover Kakashi shares Inuzuka ancestry, given his excellent senses and propensity for associating with canines."

_Thanks, Sensei_, Naruto thought. Yeah, sneaking up on the boy probably wasn't a good idea. He was sweaty from his journey – he was definitely not playing in the woods like some little kid! – and because of the light orange coat he wore despite the warm day. Kiba had probably smelled him before he even entered the clearing!

"Yo, Kiba!" Naruto called out, waving his arms wildly. The boy in question turned to Naruto, initially not appearing at all surprised at his presence, but then getting a wide-eyed look of shock for some reason. He didn't smell that bad, right?

"Naruto?" Kiba approached and they met near the middle of the clearing. "Holy crap, it is you and you're not crippled! When Iruka told us you got hurt so bad you couldn't be a ninja anymore, we all thought you'd gotten a leg chopped off or something!" The boy was several centimeters taller than Naruto and would have outweighed him by a fair amount if not for his special circumstances.

"What? Crippled?" Naruto gasped. _I am so gonna kick Iruka right in the nuts!_

"Yeah, man. Iruka didn't give us any details, but you gotta get messed up pretty bad to stop being a ninja. It doesn't look like you're missing any parts, though."

Grinning, Naruto made and exaggerated show of checking that his arms and legs were still intact.

ARF! ARF!

A little white blur crashed into Kiba's shin, surprising Naruto with its sudden appearance.

Kiba just laughed and picked up the small puppy. It could almost fit in the palm of the larger boy's hand. "Akamaru, meet Naruto, he's a dumbass, but pretty cool otherwise." _I resent that, you mangy bastard!_ "Naruto, meet Akamaru, the coolest ninja dog in Konoha!"

ARF! ARF!

Despite the desire to punch Kiba in the nose, Naruto couldn't help but smile at the puppy's yapping. It was kind of cute. "Hey, Akamaru, it's nice to meet you! Kiba used to complain all the time about not having a dog of his own." It had been damned annoying to tell the truth. "You sure are a little guy. Were you the runt of the litter?"

ARF! Grrr! ARF! ARF!

"Hey, he's just a puppy! He's supposed to be small. All Inuzuka dogs start out little and grow up slow, that way they live as long as their partner," Kiba protested, keeping a firm grip on Akamaru who apparently already had a firm enough grasp of human language to know he might have just been insulted. The puppy certainly looked like he wanted to gnaw on Naruto.

"Haha," Naruto laughed. "Just kidding around with ya, Akamaru. I think you're awesome, too! I wish I had a ninja dog. The best I could manage was convincing Sensei to let me put fish in the pond out back." The puppy calmed down immediately, clearly understanding the apology. _So jealous_, Naruto thought. Those stupid fish couldn't do anything cool.

"Sensei? Are you in a civilian school now? That's gotta suck." Kiba actually tucked Akamaru into one of the large front pockets of the coat he was wearing, the dog not seeming to mind a bit.

"Ha, no way, Kiba. After I healed up, I got my own ninja Sensei. I even moved in with him so he could monitor my health. Gotta look out for side-effects from the accident, you know?"

Kiba did not know, actually, and he wondered about it aloud.

"Some asshole sold me an explosive tag, but told me it was something else, so I kinda blew myself up," Naruto finally answered with a sheepish grin, much to Kiba's amusement. "Then I fell into a big hole and landed on some old piece of metal," this was what the Old Man had made him promise to tell people, instead of revealing just what material he'd been impaled on, "that went all the way through my guts!"

Not noticing the very slight greenish tint that came over Kiba's complexion, Naruto continued, "It's cool, though. Check it out!" Naruto rolled back the sleeves of his coat to show Kiba the iron fused to the flesh of his arms. Sensei and the Old Man both preferred that he cover up the more obvious armor while in public to avoid drawing a lot of attention. "I've got built in armor now! Go on, feel."

"Uh, that's all right, man. I'll take your word for it. How'd you end up with that stuff on your arms if you got stabbed in the stomach?"

"Sensei says my body adapted to the metal while it was trying to use my chakra to heal the wound, or something like that. I ended up absorbing a bunch of the stuff."

ARF! ARF!

"You're right, Akamaru. That does explain why Naruto smelled strange." To Naruto, he asked, "It doesn't hurt or anything?"

"Nah. It's actually sort of weird not being able to feel stuff where the armor is."

Naruto and Kiba, with occasional commentary from Akamaru, continued to talk for about half an hour or so, mostly catching up on what was happening at the academy, which girls were following that asshole Sasuke around now, and their respective training regimes, before the puppy up and whined, covering his floppy ears with his paws.

"Yeah, I hear it, too, Akamaru. I gotta go, Naruto. Mom's calling for me with the dog whistle and she sounds pissed. She probably found out I haven't cleaned the kennels yet."

Before the boy could exit the clearing, Naruto called out to him,"I get another day off in two weeks. You wanna hang out some then?"

"That sounds good, man. Akamaru and I come here to train all the time. We'll be on the lookout," and with that, he was gone.

xxxx

Hiruzen was enjoying a pleasant smoke, basking in the glory that was a desk free of paperwork, at least for the time being. His former student, Jiraiya, the last of them still loyal to Konoha, sat opposite him, kicked back in a chair with sandal-clad feet resting squarely on the Hokage's desk. The younger man had important duties outside the village and did not often find time to visit.

"You owe me a bottle of the good stuff, Old Man," claimed Jiraiya.

"And why is that?"

"Because I figured out what that seal array was meant to accomplish, the one the brat stumbled across. Of course, if it was left intact for proper study, I would have been able to tell you about its purpose months ago," the Sage accused with a mock glare.

Hiruzen shrugged unapologetically. Whether or not it had remained inert for decades, the mysterious array was too large a potential danger, and as leader of the village he would have been negligent to leave it to be activated.

"Uh huh, you act all nonchalant now, Professor. Can you pull it off when I tell you the array was a priceless cultural heritage site?" Jiraiya took special delight in seeing his old mentor's eyes widen slightly. That'll do, Super Pervert, that'll do. "You ever wonder how the Shodaime was able to whip up a forest covering more than half the Land of Fire practically overnight?"

"Well," Hiruzen groused,"shit." He had to concede that Jiraiya deserved to rub this one in his face. Now which drawer did he keep the good sake in and which housed the really good stuff he saved for the Daimyo?

_Screw the sake_, Jiraiya thought,_ that sour look on Sensei's face is worth it!_

xxxx

It was getting late and Naruto would soon need to go to sleep if he didn't want to be a miserable wretch in the morning. He did have a little time, though.

Sitting on his bed, Naruto flipped a broken kunai thoughtfully. Even with a third of the blade snapped off, he could repair it easily enough using another piece of scrap as source material. That was not to be the weapon's fate.

Dropping the kunai, Naruto rapidly went through a long set of hand seals and called out, "Iron Release: False Life Transformation!"

A small cloud of smoke enveloped the kunai. As Naruto's control and proficiency with a technique improved, the excess chakra residue released as smoke lessened greatly. The smoke faded away in a few moments to reveal a rough metallic approximation of Akamaru. Naruto watched closely as the technique slowly took complete effect. White fur grew into place and the puppy's eyes soon shined with the appearance of life. Within less than a minute there was what appeared to be a perfect duplicate of Kiba's partner sitting on his bed.

_ARFFFFF!_

Naruto winced at the harsh metallic bark, sounding not unlike scratching nails down a chalkboard. While the technique remained in effect, he mentally commanded its actions. The practice was necessary, because no matter how lifelike his creations appeared or how well they responded to his thoughts, they still didn't move properly. Iron Akamaru's gait was too unnatural to escape notice by any but the most unobservant. The creation remained for just over five minutes, a new record for the boy. At least that was some improvement.

Now he just needed to cut down on the number of necessary hand seals, do away with all the smoke, hurry up the transformation, and get the hang of moving non-human creations in a believable manner. Working out how to stop the imitations from collapsing into a pile of fine iron powder when the technique ended would also be nice. Naruto was confident he could work out those issues in the next two weeks so he could show it off to the Old Man.

_I gotta remember not to do that on the bed next time,_ Naruto thought with a sigh as he went off in search of a broom. Best to get the mess cleaned up before Sensei took notice.

xxxx

A/N: Our first minor time skip chapter. The next will probably cover about a year or so.

Reader response has been great and I would like to think everyone who have made suggestions or offered their thoughts on the story. It does make writing easier when you know you've got an appreciative audience.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/1/2012


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Six:

xxxx

"Iron Release: Devou -!"

Naruto halted the technique mid-cast, reflexively pulling himself underground to avoid being struck by the horizontal column of roaring water spit at him by Sensei. There would be time later to complain about having a ninjutsu battle against a jounin capable of initiating his techniques many times faster than him. Then again, _fair_ wasn't exactly in the ninja hand book.

The ninja-in-training drew a double brace of shuriken and flooded chakra into the projectiles, working his will upon the metallic structure of each. Prepared for his counterstroke, Naruto flared chakra, blasting upward with extreme speed. His momentum was enough to carry him several meters into the air. Sensei was nowhere to be seen, as Naruto expected. He quickly threw each handful of shuriken to either side in a wide spread pattern and activated his most practiced technique, the one he could perform silently with only a single hand seal.

_Iron Release: False Life Transformation!_

Naruto was already knifing back into the earth below, correctly expecting another attack from Sensei at any moment.

On the surface above, each haphazardly thrown shuriken released a large cloud of smoke from which emerged a life-sized representation of Naruto, otherwise perfect except for their gray metallic sheen. Color and life seemed to bleed into the Iron Clones as their submerged creator established active chakra links with them. Each semi-autonomous duplicate functioned as an extension of Naruto's will, relaying sensory information to the boy's mind and responding to his desires.

Though hidden beneath the earth, Naruto now had a perfect image of the world above as seen from eight sets of eyes. Forcing his brain to accommodate the multiple sets of data from each clone was a mildly unpleasant sensation that would result in a splitting headache if the technique was maintained for too long. One of his clones noticed Sensei dart from behind a tree and moved to engage the jounin in taijutsu. This was meant to be a strictly ninjutsu exercise, but Naruto figured that having a _ninjutsu_ technique using _taijutsu_ was the kind of creative rule bending a ninja should strive for.

A lightning bolt lanced from Sensei's fingertips, slagging the approaching clone's head and permanently disrupting it.

Three clones moved to surround the jounin, each wary of the devastating pinpoint attacks he preferred to employ, while the remaining four took up cover positions. Naruto used the opportunity to switch places with an iron clone crouched behind a boulder, smoothly engaging a Replacement technique to return to the surface. Another clone fell in the time it took to execute the switch.

Doubting he would succeed but hoping for a lucky victory, the boy made a ram seal and concentrated on the link to the two functional clones still trading blows with Sensei, preparing to detonate each in an explosive spray of razor-edged shrapnel.

The cold edge of a kunai being pressed against his throat caused Naruto to stiffen. "You are not the only one capable of using clone techniques, Naruto," Sensei said.

Naruto slumped as the kunai was withdrawn. "Aw, Sensei, I was just starting to have fun," he whined. Seeing the jounin's duplicate lose its form and collapse into a mound of mud, he dispelled his clones, each poofing away in a shower of sparkling metallic dust.

"Perhaps treating this encounter as a game is the reason your situational awareness was so poor just now?"

Naruto grumbled to himself as Sensei dissected his performance the entire trip home.

xxxx

"Check it out, Sensei!" exclaimed Naruto, waving his bared right arm enthusiastically.

Ebisu, just having returned with a fresh bundle of scrolls and a new pot of chakra-laced ink, could only stare in stupefied disbelief as Naruto pressed an ordinary kunai to what very much appeared to be a storage seal etched directly into the iron sheathing his arm and commanded, "Seal!"

The kunai disappeared - _presumably into a_ _storage seal attached directly to the iron forming Naruto's artificial secondary chakra network!_ – and Ebisu nearly had a heart attack, dropping the armload of scrolls and spilling ink on down the front of his uniform. "Naruto, what the hell do you think you're doing?" the dismayed jounin barked.

Naruto's worldview had to do a rapid readjustment. Sensei had just addressed him by name, cursed, and showed a total lack of composure, all first time occurrences in the fourteen months they'd worked together. These were things that just didn't happen, like the sun rising in the west and frogs raining from the sky. Naruto immediately understood that he had done something wrong and was in trouble for it. That would be a first as well. Despite annoying and frustrating Sensei over the months, he'd never earned his wrath…

"You stupid child, did you not listen to any of my lectures on the danger of experimentation with seals?" Ebisu crossed the room more quickly than Naruto could perceive, suddenly standing only inches away. He snatched the boy's seal-decorated arm to examine more closely. "I'm surprised you didn't just carve an array into your kidney. That would have been no less foolish," Ebisu muttered as he turned the arm this way and that, heedless of Naruto's discomfort, checking the seal for errors.

Fighting to keep the tears prickling at the corners of his eyes from showing, Naruto remained silent. How could things go bad so quickly? He'd been eager to show Sensei his new trick; sure that the man would find it interesting. Now one of the very few people he cared about, who had ever treated him with any kindness or respect in his entire life, towered over him with a look of utter contempt on his face. Gods, it hurt worse than all the glares and snide comments and nastiness directed his way by the villagers throughout his whole life. _I think I'm gonna puke_, Naruto thought miserably.

"Go to your room and do not leave until I say otherwise," Ebisu snapped at his student, allowing the arm to slip limply from his grasp. "If I feel you channel so much as one iota of chakra, I will drag you before Hokage-sama himself and wash my hands of you."

Naruto turned away quickly so Sensei would not see him cry. _Stupid Sensei_, he thought with a sniffle.

Neither Sensei nor student took notice of the storage seal on the boy's arm fading away, leaving the iron armor once more unblemished. The kunai was nowhere to be seen.

xxxx

Hours later, Ebisu crept quietly into Naruto's room. The boy looked miserable even in sleep, with his head half buried beneath a pillow and the blanket clutched tightly against his chest. He hadn't really expected to find his student sleeping. Brooding over the revenge he would shower upon his Sensei for treating him so badly, yes, asleep, not so much. Checking the stairwell, hall, and doorway for traps might have been excessive caution. He would just wait until morning to apologize for his abysmal behavior. Ebisu wished to excuse his words and actions as those of a concerned mentor rightly horrified by what he saw as a grave breach of common sense, but the justification fell short even in his own head. There was no excuse to be so harsh with the boy. It was obvious Naruto hadn't thought he was doing anything sneaky or forbidden; else he would not have so loudly announced his actions the moment his Sensei returned.

In the dim moonlight filtering in through Naruto's bedroom window, Ebisu nearly stumbled across an unseen bundle. Once his footing was steady, he crouched to examine the obstacle, finding it to be an old duffle bag he'd retrieved from Naruto's apartment when the boy first came to live with him. It was stuffed to bursting with Naruto's belongings.

_Oh, you heartless bastard_, Ebisu thought to himself, _now look what you've gone and done._ Had Naruto decided to leave, returning to his apartment? The boy could easily petition for re-entry into the ninja academy, his skills more than adequate to the task. Or did he fear his Sensei was going to force him to leave.

Yes, an apology was due in the morning.

xxxx

Naruto woke from a night of fitful sleep, half-remembered nightmares still plaguing his thoughts. Each had been a variation on an old theme; Naruto always alone, kicked out of the academy, no friends or even the Old Man to talk to. He couldn't recall the last time he'd suffered from those painful dreams.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Naruto noticed the amount of light filling his room, immediately realizing he'd overslept. Sensei was gonna kill him!

When he finished untangling the overly grabby blanket and dragged himself from bed, Naruto took only a couple steps before tripping over an obstacle sitting in the middle of his room. Horror flooded through him at the sight of the bag, memories of the day before finally intruding upon his mind. Sensei was gonna make him leave!

Naruto felt his eyes prickling again and focused the entirety of his will upon simply not letting tears come. He was eleven now, much too old to be crying like a baby! If his stupid asshole of a Sensei kicked him out, he would leave with his head held high and no sign of the burning despair he felt eating away at his insides like acid. The boy was staring so intently at the bag holding most of his worldly possessions he didn't notice the figure now standing in the doorway.

Ebisu drew Naruto's attention with a soft cough. As soon as he saw Sensei, the boy's convictions fled and he launched himself at the man. His target did not dodge and was captured in a crushing hug. With a grunt of discomfort caused by the boy who did not understand his own strength, Ebisu awkwardly patted his sobbing student on the shoulder.

"I'm so, so sorry, Sensei!" Naruto was eventually able to say between hiccups and sniffles. "I don't want to leave. I promise I won't be stupid anymore." Were those his ribs creaking?

Once Ebisu was able to pry himself from Naruto's grasp, he crouched down so he would both be at eye level with the boy. "Naruto, you have nothing to apologize for. You made a mistake and I shamefully overreacted. It is I who owe you an apology. You are a brilliant if unorthodox student, not a stupid child at all." He paused and let the obviously confused boy process his statement. "I have never before acted so unprofessionally. It would not be remiss for you to report my actions to Hokage-sama."

More than a minute passed as adult and child stared at one another. Finally, Naruto wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve and said, "Stupid Sensei, you forgot to change your clothes."

Then Ebisu realized he was still wearing the ink stained uniform from the day before. How embarrassing.

xxxx

It was hours later when Ebisu noticed Naruto's arm was now free of the storage seal that had led to the unpleasant incident of the day before. He asked his student how he was able to etch the near indestructible metal in the few minutes he'd gone without supervision and how had he was able to erase it so easily.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you, Sensei. That's what's so cool about it. I didn't have to use ink or anything to make the storage seal. I just used the one you left me to study as a guide and caused my armor to look exactly the same. Watch!" It was much easier, only a moment of concentration this time, to bring the seal into being, almost as if the iron remembered the pattern.

Ebisu observed a storage seal appear on Naruto's arm. One moment it was a blank expanse of silvery blue iron and the next there was a seal. He could have kicked himself for not realizing this possibility earlier. Not the use of thought manifested seal array, that was a special Naruto level of insane brilliance he thankfully lacked, but the idea that the iron sheathing so much of his student's form could be manipulated as easily as he controlled any other metal object he was in contact with. _Stupid Sensei, indeed_, Ebisu thought with a shake of his head.

"I forgot all about my kunai!" Naruto announced, drawing Ebisu from his minor shocked revelation. "Release!"

And from a seal that had previously been erased, Ebisu had seen the unmarked iron with his own two fully functional eyes, a kunai materialized in his student's waiting hand! The jounin's legs went numb. _Is this what a stroke feels like?_

xxxx

"Hey, Old Man!" greeted Naruto with a wave and a grin.

Hiruzen smiled at young friend. "Hello, Naruto. Ebisu tells me that you have discovered a most unusual aspect of your unique abilities."

"You bet your wrinkled old ass I have!" Ebisu had not quite closed the heavy oak door of his office, allowing the Hokage's secretary to hear Naruto's crass remark. She squawked indignantly, but her no doubt blistering verbal tirade was cut short by the door latching shut and automatic privacy seals activating. "Well, Sensei thinks it's unusual. I think it's just more proof that I'm awesome!"

After Naruto's short and excited explanation of his 'pure awesomeness', Hiruzen asked for a demonstration. The boy rolled back his sleeves and a look of concentration briefly touched his face. A storage seal appeared in identical positions on the iron sheathing each of his forearms.

"Release!" Naruto commanded, catching a familiar iron rod that appeared from the seal of his left arm. Ebisu's reports on how well the rod served Naruto as a weapon during training only confirmed in his mind the decision he'd made to pass it off to the boy. "Seal!" The rod disappeared into the remarkably created array on Naruto's left arm, only to appear from his _right arm_ when he again repeated, "Release!"

_That was quite awesome_, Hiruzen admitted with a chuckle. Ebisu looked strained, he noticed. Even with more than a year of experience dealing with Naruto, the jounin still had things to learn about the young jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. Sometimes, when Naruto was involved in a situation, you just had to roll with the punches.

"Unusual might be something of an understatement," Hiruzen remarked. "Have you experimented with this ability using any other seals?"

"No, Hokage-sama. We came to visit you immediately after working out that the seal would function without ripping Naruto's arms off."

"Again you demonstrate commendable foresight, Ebisu. Before any further experiments with new seals are attempted, I would like for Naruto to have a more thorough grounding in both the practice of and the theory behind the sealing arts. Once you believe Naruto has mastered a seal that could prove useful in light of his newly revealed talent, we will both supervise its experimental application."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

To Naruto, Hiruzen said, "Naruto, you may continue using storage seals in conjunction with your armor, but please do so with caution."

"You got it, Old Man. Wanna come to dinner with us? It's ramen night and Sensei is paying!"

xxxx

"Release!" Naruto caught the still steaming hot cup of instant ramen and passed it to Chouji. One cup wouldn't be missed since he still had five sealed away for emergencies. He offered Shikamaru and Kiba a cup, but they declined. What kind of freak turns down free ramen? He was sure Akamaru would have accepted if he was present. He was an awesome dog like that.

"Thanks, Naruto!" Chouji retrieved a pair of engraved Akimichi manufactured chopsticks from his kunai pouch and went to work.

From his place sprawled on the grass of the clearing, Shikamaru barely glanced away from his incessant cloud watching to comment, "Storage seals aren't supposed to work that way, Naruto."

"Ha, well mine do! Sensei helped me figure out how to keep the ramen fresh and hot. Not that he knew that was the goal, but what he doesn't know can't come back to bite me in the ass later." Sensei was smart as hell and even though he didn't act like he'd figured out Naruto's ulterior motives in learning the much more advanced storage seal, the boy wouldn't be shocked to learn his subterfuge had been seen through from the get go. The guys didn't need to know that.

"Troublesome," was the dark haired boy's only response, turning back to the clouds instead of miring himself any deeper in Naruto's odd fascination with ramen.

Mournfully staring down into the devastated remains of his empty cup, Chouji said, "That is so cool, Naruto. Does it work with other stuff or just ramen?"

"All kinds of stuff, man. Keeps ice cream cold, too!"

Naruto laughed outright at the worshipful expression on his chubby friend's face. To Kiba he asked, "Where's Akamaru at anyway?" The Inuzuka boy and his young ninja dog were normally inseparable.

Kiba paused in his none too gentle pounding of the wooden training post to respond. "Mom's making him spend time with Hana's dogs this week. Apparently our ninja dogs have clan secrets of their own they pass down to one another. I don't think that's fair at all!" He lashed out at the wooden post, gauging it deeply with his long chakra-strengthened fingernails.

"It doesn't sound like that big of a problem. We all know Akamaru is the brains of your operation anyway," teased Naruto. "They're probably just teaching him a secret technique to mind control their human pets!"

Shikamaru snorted, revealing that he wasn't really asleep, and Chouji laughed merrily.

"Oy! That's not true! Have you been talking to Ino? She started the same stupid rumor last year and it took months to go away."

"Blondes. So troublesome."

"Seriously," Kiba muttered darkly, glaring at Naruto and Chouji, both laughing too hard at his plight to respond.

xxxx

A/N: I apologize for the bit of angst in this chapter. Such unpleasantness will be rare in this story.

I'm still blown away by all the responses and helpful suggestions I'm receiving from you guys. Some don't align with what I plan for Naruto and some match up very well. Others are from series' that I don't feel I'm familiar enough with to try to incorporate their elements into the story. Regardless, I consider everyone's input as I write.

We're coming up on a big decision point for me in relation to the story. Though I have much of the general future mapped out, I've suddenly gotten the urge to genin-ify Naruto a year early and place him on a team sooner than his peers. This appeals to me for a few reasons, mostly because it gives me a larger time frame where Naruto can be an active ninja without falling into the well worn rut of the Wave Arc followed immediately by the Chuunin Exam Arc. We'll just have to see, I guess.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/2/2012


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Seven:

xxxx

Ebisu's wooden bo staff clacked sharply against Naruto's much heavier iron pole, the jounin taking care to deflect his student's powerful strike lest it splinter the less robust weapon. That was the secret to combating the boy's seemingly prodigious strength; deflect, parry, and dodge. At close range, Naruto's every attack had to be treated as a potentially crippling injury in the making. Operating under the effects of constant chakra-enhancement, a necessity due to his peculiar condition, Naruto did not broadcast the telltale surges of chakra another ninja would release when temporarily boosting their bodies to perform some superhuman feat or another; his was just a steady thrumming presence for anyone with the ability to sense it. Not all ninja learned to detect those signals, just one of the reasons why few survived long enough to attain jounin rank. Ebisu was one of these ninja, for all the good it did in this situation, as lack of the expected cues made fighting Naruto at a level appropriate to the boy's skill a little stressful.

The overhead blow turned aside and its follow up sweep avoided by a wide margin, Ebisu knew better than to let his guard down. While his bo was a static weapon, his student's was not. The whole point of this exercise was to force the boy to apply his rather devious creativity to that hunk of chakra conductive iron he so adored. He did not want his student to be merely adequate, but a instead a terror to fight, with a tool that could be anything its wielder could imagine from one moment to the next. To facilitate this, Naruto was barred from using the weapon in any single form for more than three consecutive attacks. The threat of no ramen privileges for a week was perhaps a bit too much motivation, Ebisu would later consider.

Over the better part of an hour, Naruto cycled through more than a dozen random blunt instruments, tried a variety of swords, used the bo-like pole several times, and even attempted to wield his weapon in the form of a halberd once. A proper halberd was not an easy weapon for Naruto to manage, it was too long and he was too short. That little misstep nearly ended the spar early. Ebisu updated his mental notes of which weapons appeared to best suit his student's style for later. It was all well and good that Naruto gain some proficiency with as many forms as possible, but it was unfeasible to expect him to become truly skilled with more than a few.

As Naruto's iron pole suddenly lengthened dramatically, losing its rigidity in the process, Ebisu was forced to sacrifice his bo staff and dodge with a chakra enhanced burst of speed. The boy cackled as he twirled his improvised whip with unnatural, snaking precision. The sharp crack of its dagger-like tip breaking the sound barrier only accentuated how dangerous this new variation could be.

"Excellent choice, Naruto," congratulated Ebisu. He drew a pair of kunai and upped his own speed to better match Naruto's now heightened threat level.

"I almost got you that time, Sensei!" Naruto cracked his whip, again missing Sensei but destroying the kunai used to deflect the strike. It could be repaired easily enough afterward.

Naruto yelped, nearly dropping his rod-turned-whip, when Ebisu darted forward to take advantage of the longer-ranged weapon's lack of close range utility. He did drop it, however, when the man's kick connected solidly with his armored sternum, blasting him off his feet and into a roll that left him grounded and disoriented. A kunai pressed against Naruto's throat once again ended the spar. They _always_ ended like that! No matter how much he learned or how fast he became, Sensei was always that much faster. He was getting tired of the sensation of that damned kunai tickling his neck. One day he'd laugh and end up with a second smile.

xxxx

"Thanks, Teuchi, it was great as always! Seeya next time, Ayame!" Naruto decided that once he became a ninja and started earning the big time ryo, when he could afford as much Ichiraku's ramen as he wanted – stupid small allowance! – he would give up the instant stuff forever. It even made sense from a ninja's point of view. Store enough Ichiraku's away in his seals and he could avoid all sorts of potential hazards in the field. Fresh ramen at night without risking a visible fire, fresh ramen prepared by trusting hands not waiting to poison the nosy foreign ninja…mmm, fresh ramen.

His stomach pleasantly engorged, Naruto set of for the student training ground where he often met with the guys on his free days. He had not traveled more than a block when he caught sight of a far off head of lovely pink hair. Could it be, after nearly two years out of the academy, had he finally found Sakura?

Naruto cursed his lack of a passable body flicker. Progress on the technique was slow and if he attempted to use it now to catch up to Sakura before she disappeared he would probably end up ramming his head through some unsuspecting villager's living room wall.

He caught up with Sakura shortly, having only lost sight of her a handful of time. She was stepping into an unfamiliar flower shop just as Naruto rounded the corner. Hadn't Shikamaru lazily mentioned at some point that Ino's parents owned a flower shop? If this was Ino's parents' shop, it seemed kinda odd to see Sakura visiting. According to Kiba's complaints, based mostly on the volume of the girls' many violent shouting matches, Ino and Sakura's silly competition to garner Sasuke's attention had progressed to a heated rivalry. Naruto still couldn't figure _that_ situation out at all. When he'd been withdrawn from the academy, both girls were still on friendly enough terms, shifting between sighing dreamily or making googly eyes at Sasuke and giggling together conspiratorially over some unfathomable girl-type stuff.

Never having had cause to enter a flower shop – the only girl he knew was Ayame – Naruto opened the door and entered cautiously. Maybe the ramen slinging girl would like a flower?

"…crazy, Forehead! Ami does not have a pair of Sasuke's boxers!" That was Ino screeching.

"Well, that's what she said and the pair she was waving around was Sasuke's brand! I wouldn't make up a story about something so important, you stupid pig!" Sakura responded with equal if not greater force.

And on that note Naruto slipped right back out the door, hoping neither girl noticed his very brief presence. Even though it would have been awesome to say hi to Sakura and get a good look at her after so much time, he had no intention of getting drawn into whatever insanity had infected his former classmates. _Sasuke, you poor bastard_…

xxxx

"I do not make this recommendation lightly, Hokage-Sama," Ebisu said.

Hiruzen was a bit dumbfounded, to be honest. Ebisu and Naruto had developed a very effective teacher – student relationship. Naruto's reported skills as a ninja trainee greatly exceeded where he would have expected them to be had he remained in the academy. Ebisu, staid and stoic Ebisu, might not realize it, but he'd grown into his role as a teacher while overseeing Naruto's education. He didn't just teach, he genuinely cared about his student's progress, going so far as to learn new skills with the express purpose of passing them on to Naruto. So, all things considered, it was strange for the jounin was looking to terminate his very lucrative teaching contract prematurely.

He quirked an eyebrow and gestured for Ebisu to continue his argument.

"Naruto has proven to be an exceptional student, Hokage-Sama, exceeding my earliest estimates with ease. He has the beginnings of a serviceable taijutsu style to complement his physical power and unique weapon, a well developed school of personal ninjutsu, and his seal work alone will one day make him an asset to the village. His only glaring weakness is his inability to cast any but the most simplistic of genjutsu." Ebisu paused before admitting, "To be fair, most children accepted into the ninja academy would also excel if given the full attention of a dedicated instructor for two years. While I could undoubtedly further Naruto's education with another year to work with him, it would not be fair to my student."

"How would another year of personal instruction be unfair to Naruto?"

"He already possesses the skills you would expect to find in a seasoned genin on the cusp of promotion to chuunin rank, Hokage-Sama. At this point he only lacks the necessary experience. In another year my student would definitely be worthy of elite chuunin status, but lacking in any field experience. Then, as a best case scenario, he would spend a minimum of six months to a year working with a genin team who did not have the advantage of specialized tutelage."

Ebisu obviously had not come to this decision lightly or without great thought.

"It would be a stifling environment for Naruto, Hokage-Sama. Better to allow him to spend his time as a genin when he can actually _be _a genin, despite his age. It was only a few short years ago when we regularly graduated children years younger than my student." Between conclusion of the last great ninja war reducing the need for troops to replace casualties and the controversy tied to the assumption by the populace at large that promoting Uchiha Itachi too far, too quickly, had led to the bloody massacre of his family, standard graduation age had been increased to thirteen years or older. Though this was not a true law written in the books, the Hokage's word _was_ the law.

Hiruzen nodded, contemplating his jounin's reasoning.

"As Naruto's teacher," he began, silently adding, _and a man in whom I have trusted the wellbeing of a child I would be proud to call my grandson_, "your opinion obviously carries great weight with me in regards to his education." He set his unlit pipe aside, and said, "I must give this matter some thought. You are dismissed for now, Ebisu."

xxxx

"You're shittin' me, right?" Kiba demanded, skeptical of Naruto's claim.

ARF! ARF! Reiterated Akamaru.

"No joke! I just wanted to say hi and see how Sakura was doing," Naruto ignored or didn't notice his companions rolling their eyes, "but her and Ino were arguing about some other girl having Sasuke's underwear. They were jealous! I hope they didn't notice me there or they might try to silence me!"

ARF! ARF! Well, at least Akamaru believed him.

"Fine then, if you guys don't believe me, you can just ask one of them in class tomorrow," he pouted. If the girls didn't try to eliminate any of the boys then he, too, should be safe.

"True or not, I for one don't want to talk about Sasuke's underwear," interjected Shikamaru. "This whole conversation is on the verge of becoming troublesome."

Naruto would have rather sparred with his friends, but Kiba was a sore loser, Chouji wasn't interested in fighting on the weekend, and Shikamaru wouldn't even have deigned to dignify the offer with a response. Sigh. The things he did for his friends. "Wanna play shogi?"

The Nara boy regarded him with one skeptical eye cracked partially open.

"Maybe you should play checkers with Akamaru instead," Kiba said with a laugh. "You almost beat him last time!"

ARF!

"Akamaru is a badass like that," Naruto said in his defense. "Akamaru, buddy, you need to keep your human in line. He's getting mouthy again." He had to dodge a pebble flicked his way by the young Inuzuka.

ARF! ARF!

"It's so not cool when you gang up on me with this asshole, Akamaru," Kiba muttered.

xxxx

"Thank you for meeting on such short notice, Ebisu." The Sandaime Hokage was not alone when Ebisu entered the aged leader's office. Might Guy, arguably one of Konoha's most powerful jounin and without doubt the most eccentric, waved cheerily.

"I serve at your pleasure, Hokage-Sama." He nodded a greeting to his fellow ninja.

"Please have a seat, gentlemen. Now, Ebisu, your proposal to promote Naruto to genin rank a year early has presented us with an opportunity that would otherwise be untenable. Guy, if you would bring Ebisu up to speed?"

"Thank you, sir!"

He'd had enough dealings with the green clad man over the years to be prepared for some of the strangeness that was sure to come next.

"Ebisu, word of your youthful efforts to fan Uzumaki Naruto's flames of youth inspired me to petition Hokage-Sama for an apprentice of my own," Guy announced.

Oh, bother. He was going to be blamed for whatever insanity Guy ended up causing in his soon to be apprentice.

Guy went on to explain, in between exclamations of…youthfulness…his desire to take on an apprentice from the soon to graduate academy class, a student who had caught the jounin's eye with his steadfast determination to become a ninja despite an incredible handicap. Ebisu was frankly astonished a student had been accepted into the academy that had no ability to mold chakra. The Hokage was inclined to grant Guy's request, if only because of his long and loyal service to the village, but doing so would not only rob him of a most promising jounin teacher for a genin squad, there would also be a team one genin short of complete; Guy had already pulled enough strings and promised enough favors to guarantee the boy's graduation.

Behind the dark lenses of his sunglasses, Ebisu shot a glance at the Hokage. The village leader's kind old eyes practically _twinkled_ with suppressed mirth.

"…and so you see, by allowing Naruto to graduate early, Guy not only gets his apprentice, you are able to stay on as Naruto's instructor in the role of his genin team leader!" The Hokage's cheerful conclusion sounded vaguely Guy-like. Surely he wasn't contagious?

The solution did make a certain amount of sense, Ebisu conceded. Before the possibility of Naruto's early promotion entered the fray, Guy was slated to lead the graduating classes' most promising genin team. Using the traditional Konoha arrangement of pairing the best scoring male and female ninja alongside the lowest scoring, Lee would be Guy's student one way or another. Naruto would not have been the lowest scoring ninja of the class, Ebisu was most certain, but since he technically had noacademy scores to judge him by, those records having been purged, the boy could be slotted into Lee's place with a minimum of fuss.

This whole scheme hinged on Ebisu agreeing to take on a genin team. It was not a very difficult decision to make actually. His entire career as a jounin and most of his time as a chuunin were spent teaching in one capacity or another. He had considered putting his name forward to lead a team, if some years in the future. If Ebisu accepted the Hokage's offer, not only would Naruto get a well deserved promotion, he would be able to continue teaching the boy alongside a pair of skilled young ninja.

Finally, after discussing the matter for several more minutes, learning relevant information – his potential teams' names and specialties – and the useless – Guy's hopeful plans to take a yearlong leave of absence from performing missions to devote his full attention to Lee – Ebisu said, "I wish to accept your offer, Hokage-Sama. I would be pleased to lead Naruto's team."

"Yosh!" Guy exclaimed, pulling Ebisu in an enthusiastic hug too quickly for him to protest. "Our students shall be veritable bonfires of youthful flames!"

_If nothing else_, Ebisu thought while struggling heroically to escape Guy's grasp, _by taking team lead, I am saving two future Konoha ninja from this man's insanity._

xxxx

A/N: There we go. I've decided on the early graduation route for Naruto, though it will require some adjustment to my planning. Credit for the way this worked out goes in part to a helpful reader, Kishinokurobi, who suggested Lee become Guy's apprentice, thereby opening up a spot on the former Team Guy. It felt only natural for Ebisu to take over as Naruto's team leader, just as he did for Konohamaru in canon once he became a genin.

To answer a question that has been coming up a lot, I'll go ahead and say that Naruto will not be gaining the Sandaime Kazekage's Iron Sand powers. They function in a manner totally different to Naruto's control over iron, for starters, and would go a long way towards making Naruto too powerful for my tastes. He will be quite capable on his own, trust me.

Additionally, while Naruto is not incapable of learning elemental ninjutsu, he has not picked up any so far. He is a different ninja than the stupidly impulsive kid portrayed in canon. Gone will be the thoughtless spamming of shadow clones and his sadly underdeveloped wind affinity(such potential neglected for so long is hard to swallow). Ebisu has forged Naruto into a skilled young ninja, not a one trick pony.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/3/2012


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Eight:

xxxx

Ebisu was just putting the finishing touches on an entry into his financial ledger when he heard Naruto's habitual announcement of "I'm home!" followed by the sound of the front door slamming harder than absolutely necessary. He had been fully prepared to pay a hefty penalty for terminating the teaching contract between himself and Hokage-Sama; prepared but not expecting it. The Sandaime Hokage was generous with his ninja and seemed quite happy with advancing Naruto ahead of schedule. What Ebisu had not expected at all was to receive a bank note from the village leader covering what would have been his final A-Rank mission payments for the last two sixth-month increments of Naruto's three year training stint _and_ the promised S-Rank bonus pay. Added to his previous savings and the reduced stipend he would receive for early retirement, Ebisu was now wealthy enough that he could leave the ninja forces entirely and live a peaceful, danger-free life. Or he could take the recently offered post as chief administrator of the ninja academy, a highly respected position in Konoha. Despite not being an S-Ranked combat monster, an appellation many foolish young ninja aspired to, his financial solvency and the acclaim he had amassed in education circles was quite an accomplishment for a man not yet thirty years old.

Instead, here he was about to take up lead of his first genin team. On average, barring extraordinary circumstances such as complete annihilation or unusually rapid promotion to chuunin rank, a genin team was under the command of their jounin instructor for approximately three years. Not only was the jounin expected to continue the genins' education in the basic ninja arts, they also had the responsibility for preparing the young soldiers for eventual integration into the larger military structure of the village. This included imparting proper mission etiquette, raising their fieldcraft to a certain minimal level, ascertaining which specialized role each genin should apply for upon promotion to chuunin and helping them to gain the necessary skills to be accepted into that chosen career path. The skill set of a hunter ninja was different from an infiltration specialist, while a long range scout shared traits of both, and so on. Ebisu found himself excited at the prospect.

"Naruto," he called loudly before Naruto could make it to the stairwell, "would you step into my study for a moment, please?"

"What's up, Sensei?" Naruto asked a few moments later as he entered the room. The boy had finally grown skilled enough with his Transformation technique to maintain it for long periods of time without worrying about it failing due to a lapse in concentration. This allowed him to disguise the iron armor sheathing much of his form without wearing long sleeved garments and full length pants. While as adapted to Fire Country's warm climate as the next Konoha citizen, Naruto was more sensitive to long term heat exposure than most due to his armor. Thus, the orange t-shirt and black shorts his student now wore instead of the jumpsuit he once favored.

"As you may or may not be aware, the senior most class of genin hopefuls is scheduled to graduate from the academy this coming Friday, five days hence." Naruto nodded in the affirmative. "After extensive negotiations with Hokage-sama, I have secured you a place among those graduating genin, Naruto."

Naruto stood there, remarkably silent, mouth gaping open, closing, and then gaping again.

Not showing any sign of his amusement over Naruto being struck speechless, Ebisu continued. "As part of my agreement with Hokage-Sama, I will be assuming command of your genin team." He had more news to share with Naruto, but was halted when the boy finally overcame his shock.

"Bwahahaha! I'm so awesome! You're awesome, too, Sensei!" The boy was literally vibrating with barely contained glee, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet and looking slightly demented. "Woohoo, early graduation! Or is it promotion, since I'm not in the academy? Bah, who cares, I'm gonna be a ninja!"

Ebisu was unable to contain the small grin Naruto's behavior elicited, though he remained on guard and ready to dodge if the boy looked like he was preparing to hug him. In Naruto's current excited state, the jounin wasn't sure he'd survive the experience.

"I'll be right back, don't go anywhere! I've gotta get to the tower before the Old Man leaves!" The boy disappeared in a wordless, seal free body flicker, this one not the standard swirling leaf Konoha variant, but a puff of metallic glitter. Ebisu was not aware that his student had even performed a successful body flicker technique, let alone mastered it to such an extent.

xxxx

Naruto groaned, trying to comb the bits of broken masonry from his hair without making the throbbing of everything above his neck any worse. Spontaneous body flickers might look cool, but they hurt like a son of a bitch when you missed your target and face planted into a brick wall. He could take some small comfort that the wall, one belonging to a café he knew to be just over halfway between home and the Hokage's tower, had fared far worse than his skull.

It took three attempts to fight through the dizziness and get his Transformation back in place. This time he went with a more comprehensive illusion, disguising not just his armor, but covering his whisker marks, adding eight or nine centimeters to his height, and turning his hair brown. No need to advertise just who it was who'd trashed the café. Naruto briefly debated with himself whether he should tell the Old Man he had been the one to bust the wall, and then thought better of it and shrugged the issue aside. He remembered the place. It was one of many that turned him away over the years, especially when he was younger, the proprietors never bothering to explain _why_ he deserved to be ostracized.

With the sun nearly set on a weekend evening, Naruto eventually arrived to find the Hokage Tower almost deserted. He reapplied the Transformation once more, dropping most of the illusion in favor of his normal partial cover as he entered the tower. The guards ignored his ascent towards the Old Man's office and the ninja normally posted on secretary duty was nowhere to be seen. A final pair of guards in ANBU masks just waved Naruto into the Hokage's office, by now having learned the Sandaime never barred the boy from entering.

"Whew, I wasn't sure I could make it before you went home, Old Man." He plopped down in a chair across from the Hokage's desk. The short walk had done wonders for his wall-induced headache and the dizziness was long gone.

"The duties of a Hokage are long and arduous, Naruto. Something to keep in mind for when you wear this hat," the Hokage chuckled. The village leader scribbled something on a piece of parchment and set it aside. "You do have good timing, Naruto. That was my final act as Hokage for the day. So, what brings you by my office at this late hour?" He retrieved a pouch of tobacco from the desk drawer he kept various personal effects, tapped a generous portion into the bowl of his trusty pipe, and set the contents alight with a spark of Fire natured chakra glowing on his fingertip.

"Sensei told me how you were gonna let me become a genin a year early. I just wanted to say thanks!"

"There's no need to thank me, Naruto. You have worked hard and earned your place among the ninja of Konoha."

Conscious of the time and not wanting to keep the Old Man stuck in the tower all night, Naruto only spent a few minutes conversing with him, most of the discussion centered on his eventual rise to power as the Godaime Hokage.

Naruto excused himself, promising not to stop by so late again, and was nearly out the door when the Hokage said, "Please stop by tomorrow morning, Naruto. There are weighty matters we must address."

"You got it, Old Man. I'll see you bright and early!" Damn, he was good. Not even issued a forehead protector yet and he was already gonna learn village secrets!

xxxx

Returning home and making his way to Sensei's study, Naruto was met with a pointed _look_ from the jounin and a gesture toward a waiting broom and dustpan. "What?" He asked, hoping that knock to the head hadn't jarred something loose. He sure didn't remember having any chores left to do today.

"The leavings of your excellent example of the body flicker technique, Naruto." He pointed out the sparse coat of sparkling dust littering the polished hardwood floor. "I was not aware you were working on your own variant of the technique. If you can increase the amount of glitter significantly, out of doors, of course, your version has potential to double as an effective distraction technique."

"Glitter? You mean like the sparkly stuff girls play with?" Naruto cried out, pausing in his cleanup efforts to closely examine the remnants of the body flicker. "That's not what it's supposed to look like at all. There's supposed to be a swarm of knives instead of stupid old leaves! Sensei, you've gotta help me, if Kiba ever see me do a glitter body flicker, he'll never let me hear the end of it!"

"If you wish, Naruto, we will dedicate the coming week to perfecting your unusual body flicker." The Sensei looked at the floor once more and said, "Your glitter will not remove itself from the floor of my study."

"Freaking glitter…" the boy grumbled. Crap, it was even in the cracks between floorboards.

xxxx

Ebisu hid his amusement well, faking a cough to cover a laugh that threatened to bubble up as Naruto diligently removed the hated glitter, complaining darkly all the while. He suspected the glitter was simply a long lasting and unusual expression of chakra residue. Naruto had a way of making the strange seem all together common. If allowed to sit long enough, it would probably fade away entirely. This exercise would, however, discourage Naruto from employing techniques in their home he could not properly control.

As Naruto finished up, Ebisu opened a folder on his desk and sorted the papers within into two short stacks. "Now that the mess has been removed, we will discuss your future teammates."

"You already know who they're gonna be? Even though they haven't graduated yet? I thought it wasn't supposed to work like that!"

"Please, Naruto, this is a _ninja_ village. Rules can be bent without breaking and tradition only has a place so long as it is convenient," Ebisu countered with a roll of his eyes. Sometimes his student could be unwholesomely naïve.

Naruto crossed his arm over his chest and glared impudently.

"Now, your teammates are to be Hyuuga Neji, Rookie of the Year of his graduating class and Higurashi Tenten, whose overall score was second only to Neji. We have discussed the Hyuuga family in some detail, mostly in regards to their Bloodline and specialized taijutsu form it allows them to use to great effect." Naruto nodded, remembering the lessons well. Over the years Ebisu made a point of teaching his student the capabilities and tactics of every clan and prominent Bloodline in Konoha and the rest of those in the Elemental Nations he was familiar with. It was not secret knowledge, as anyone with an up-to-date Bingo Book or access to the library could compile it easily enough within hours.

"Neji has been hailed as a prodigy, the most talented Hyuuga born in generations. He is also a member of the Branch House." That drew a wince from his student. The boy unsurprisingly shared his disdain for the barbaric seal-enforced servitude forced upon the majority of Konoha's most prominent clan by its ruling line.

"Higurashi Tenten is civilian born. Her parents own a high end smithy that caters exclusively to ninja clientele. This appears to have heavily influenced Tenten's development as a ninja. Her records indicate the she has achieved great proficiency in the use of _all_ types of melee weapons." That got a widening of the eyes from his student. Naruto had struggled to become merely adequate with most weapons and skilled with a bare handful. "She also holds the all time academy record for accuracy with all varieties of thrown projectile weaponry."

"Whoa…" Naruto's accuracy was acceptable in light of the relatively short time he spent practicing the skill. More often than not, however, his motive for tossing about shuriken or kunai was to use the tools as a force multiplier, either through the creation of his metal clones or fragmentation bombs.

"I have removed confidential personal information from Neji and Tenten's academy files. All that remains are instructor reviews, test scores, and quarterly evaluations for each of your teammates. I expect you to have familiarized yourself with them by this time tomorrow evening, Naruto. I will be developing a rudimentary course of instruction for your teammates to round out their somewhat lopsided distribution of skills. You will be assisting me."

"That doesn't seem fair, Sensei."

Sigh. "Life is not fair, Naruto. If it will lessen your sense of outrage, however, you can easily share any information about yourself with your teammates. In fact, you will do exactly that. Since you have not attended classes with your teammates, or they with you, it would be prudent for the team to understand one another's capabilities more fully."

xxxx

"I must congratulate you, Naruto. Your demolition efforts yesterday saved one of my genin teams a bit of work today." Hiruzen chuckled when Naruto's look of confusion changed to flushed cheeks and a nervous grin.

"Ah, you heard about that, huh?" Naruto glanced down at the floor with a guilty expression. "I shoulda told you, Old Man. Would it be all right to deduct the cost of repairs from my mission pay? Once I actually start taking missions, I mean. My allowance barely covers ramen expenses."

"There is no need, Naruto. The new owner of the property the café sits upon engaged the services of a team of Konoha genin to perform an extended D-Rank mission with the express purpose of demolishing the structure. If my ANBU's report is accurate, those genin probably wish you'd lend them a head already." Heh.

"Lucky…" Naruto whispered, guilt washing away to display a relieved grin.

Hiruzen slid a large paper wrapped bundle into Naruto's view from where it had been obscured behind a truly daunting stack of paperwork.

"What's that, Old Man?"

"A graduation gift for you, Naruto," Hiruzen answered. He flipped it end over end into the boy's lap.

"Really? You're the best!" Naruto tore the paper away from the package to discover a folded piece of bright orange fabric. He stood and unfolded the cloth with a snap of his wrist and a dramatic flourish, revealing it to be a hooded black-trimmed orange overcoat complete with his trademark black and red spiral centered prominently on the back. Naruto slipped the coat on then silently released a Konoha issue signal mirror from storage to better admire his appearance. "Kick ass! I look so damned cool!"

"I'm glad you approve, Naruto. I admit the coat does look good on you; however it serves a much more practical purpose than merely making you look 'cool'."

Hiruzen's tone was serious enough to draw Naruto's attention away from himself.

"Given the nature of your condition, which you have adapted to admirably, you shine as a burning beacon to even the most underdeveloped chakra senses. A true sensor could detect your presence from several kilometers away. Along with a former student of mine, we have incorporated a series of seals into the fabric of your coat that will serve to dramatically mute your chakra presence. Standing before me now, I can attest to its effectiveness. To my not inconsiderable senses you now appear to have no more than high chuunin chakra levels. Your constant chakra enhancement is completely undetectable." Hiruzen was pleased with his and Jiraiya's work. "I must ask that you wear this coat while outside the village walls if there is any chance you could encounter enemy ninja."

Naruto stared at him in awe. "So…freaking…awesome!" No longer able to contain himself, he rushed around the Hokage's desk and attached himself to the older man like a human limpet.

Hiruzen laughed and returned the enthusiastic hug.

"You will also find that, thanks to my student's efforts, the cloak is able to easily shed water as well as keep you cool in hot environments and warm in colder ones. For times when anonymity is best, you can turn it inside out. The beige liner will attract much less attention than your preferred orange."

xxxx

It took Naruto a few moments after detaching himself from the Old Man to overcome his giddiness and process the mention of a student. From Ebisu's instruction, he knew Orochimaru had turned into the worst sort of traitor and Tsunade was a missing ninja in all but name. That left Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, as the only possible 'student'. He was wearing a coat with seal work done by the God of Ninja and his equally legendary student, the famous seal master Ebisu spoke so highly of. He was said to be an author of great renown, though Naruto had not encountered any of his works.

Now he was almost scared to wear the coat. What if it got messed up by some asshole ninja or something?

The Old Man cleared his throat to draw Naruto's attention from imagining every bad thing that could happen to his awesome new coat. "Now that you are to become a genin, I must fulfill a promise I made to myself many years ago, and share one of our village's most important secrets with you, Naruto."

_Yes! I was totally right, the Old Man is already entrusting me with village secrets!_

"Just over twelve years ago, on the very night you were born, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha…"

xxxx

A/N: The Big Reveal for Naruto and some new clothes! Next chapter we'll officially meet Team Ebisu.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/4/2012


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Nine:

xxxx

The Old Man really freaking knew how to pile it on a guy, didn't he?

Naruto sat alone with only the sound of his own breathing to keep him company. He was in a hollow iron sphere roughly four meters in diameter and at least thirty meters beneath the streets of Konoha. The gentle glow of a toned down flare seal he'd imprinted on the wall of the sphere saved him from total darkness. The small photo album the Old Man had given him was safely tucked in a seal. Naruto had stared at its contents until his eyes burned and his head ached.

He _really_ wanted to be alone with his thoughts at the moment.

Couldn't the Old Man have maybe spaced those 'village secrets' out over a few months? To think he'd been so eager to learn them straight from the Hokage's own mouth…

Container of the Kyuubi; wasn't that just a kick right to the nuts? And because the Old Man might be getting a little senile in his old age, _every single adult _in Konoha knew it. Worst kept S-Rank secret ever, for sure. That revelation went a long way towards explaining why exactly he'd been treated like shit for as far back as he could remember. Having a living reminder of the gigantic murderous beast that stomped on your village and wiped out significant numbers of your loved ones wasn't going to put anyone in a good mood. That didn't mean you had to be an utter asshole to a poor orphaned kid because of circumstances beyond his control. Even he, a wet behind the ears genin-to-be, knew that an item stowed in away in a seal was isolated from its container…

And speaking of being an orphan, it would have been nice to know the names of his parents as he was growing up. That would answer a longstanding question that had sat at the back of Naruto's mind for years. Where were the Uzumaki's? Who were they? Did he look more like his mom or his dad? Well, he need not wonder any longer. He'd gone from knowing absolutely nothing about the people responsible for his birth to maybe knowing too much.

Uzumaki Kushina was a pretty redheaded lady, refugee from the long defunct Whirling Tides ninja village, and former jinchuuriki – and if that wasn't the crappiest possible name for a tailed beast container – of the Kyuubi. The Old Man spoke of her with a touch of wistfulness. She was a ninjutsu specialist, though hardly a slouch when it came to kenjutsu, and possessed a powerful Bloodline or clan secret-based ability to create deadly chains of pure chakra. As moms go, not that he had much experience judging such things, Naruto felt he'd gotten a cool one.

Naruto wasn't sure if he even wanted to know his father was Namikaze Minato. Yeah, that particular Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage and widely considered the most badass ninja ever. A SS-Rank ninja single handedly credited with winning a war, his father was likely the most hated man in the ninja village of Rock even more than a decade after his death. He'd whipped them good and proper back during the third great ninja war and earned the first ever 'flee on sight' order, so great was the power of his awesomeness. If that wasn't enough, then the man had gone on to become the Yondaime Hokage at a disgustingly young age and finished out his short career by offing the Kyuubi with a special suicide technique. Only that's not how it really happened at all, Naruto had learned. His _father_, the ninja he'd looked up to almost as much as the Old Man himself, didn't kill the Kyuubi because the beast could not be killed, only contained. What better container than your very own newborn and conveniently handy son? What an asshole.

The Old Man swore up, down, and sideways that Naruto's father wanted nothing more than for him to be viewed as a hero by the village for holding the Kyuubi in check with his very existence. Yeah, that had worked out so well. Hated and reviled at worst, ignored at best, Naruto's early childhood was not very hero-like. If not for the Old Man's friendship through those early years, Naruto shuddered to imagine how he'd have turned out.

There had been some concern, the Old Man insisted, that telling Naruto about his parents would be dangerous for him. If he started spreading the news around town, there was apparently a very good chance the leadership of Rock, or just someone with a long held grudge against the Yellow Flash, would take it upon themselves to have Naruto assassinated on general principle. No telling what the little tyke might have inherited from his father, right?

Well, no need to worry about Naruto shouting from the rooftops that his dad was the Yellow Flash, amusing as the initial reaction might be. He was too embarrassed for that right now and not nearly strong enough to fight off hordes of assassins, just in case the Old Man's fears proved true. The Yondaime really expected the citizen's of Konoha to see him as a hero? Sensei called Naruto hopelessly optimistic and naïve. It must run in the family. Thankfully his mom's blood seemed to have diluted those traits in her son. If the Old Man was correct, his mom and dad's relationship was secret from all but a few trusted individuals, so it would be safe to publically be Uzumaki Kushina's son. He could work with that.

xxxx

"The Kyuubi, huh?" Naruto's voice and the unexpected subject matter snapped Ebisu's head around and focused his attention squarely on the boy. The repetitive and oddly relaxing act of cutting vegetables had dulled his otherwise excellent senses so much that the boy's presence didn't register until he was already in the kitchen and deliberately calling attention to himself. He would have preferred, however, to believe it was his student's stealth skills and the knee-length orange coat Naruto now wore, not a lack of attention that allowed a much less experienced ninja to so readily go unnoticed. Hokage-sama's graduation gift, likely given early to lessen the sting of other, more unpleasant news, certainly seemed effective at masking Naruto's immense chakra.

"Ah, I see Hokage-sama has finally revealed your status as the Kyuubi jinchuuriki," he acknowledged with a pleased nod. It had not been his secret to tell, after all, and an S-Rank one at that.

"Yeah, I'm a 'power of human sacrifice'. What a stupid name for a container. I've never seen a storage scroll called 'a power of paper sacrifice'. People are dumb, Sensei."

Ebisu nodded, slightly perturbed by just how unbothered his student seemed. "It is an old term from a more primitive time, Naruto. I must admit you don't seem overly concerned to learn that sealed within you is the most powerful of the tailed beasts."

Naruto snorted. "I was plenty concerned, Sensei. I even dug a deep hole and hid like a little kid for a few hours. Then I got over it and went and blew some stuff up. That helped a lot."

Slipping away from the cutting board, pleased to see Naruto automatically take over the task of preparing the vegetables for dinner, Ebisu retrieved a tray of tofu from the icebox. He was proud that his student found an outlet for his emotions, even if it involved 'blowing stuff up'. Not everyone found reading a cathartic experience.

"Did you know my parents, Sensei?" Naruto asked hesitantly a minute later.

Say what?

"The Old Man told me a lot, and I already knew a bunch about my dad already, but his perspective is like way up here," Naruto raised the piece of cutlery he'd just finished using to dice a carrot and wave it over his head, "at Hokage level. Maybe you knew them more like normal people, right?"

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I must admit to being confused. Hokage-sama was aware of the identity of your parents? He shared this knowledge with you as well as the truth of the Kyuubi's defeat?"

"Yep, it was a great big info dump right into my poor little brain," complained Naruto as he commenced to decimate a pickle.

"I was not aware anyone knew of your parentage," Ebisu admitted with a frown.

"Wow, I knew the Old Man said people didn't know my parents were together, but I just figured he would have told you about them since I've been living with you and all. It seems kinda dangerous for you not to be informed."

Ebisu was most interested in how such knowledge could be dangerous. "What manner of danger would this be, Naruto?"

"Mostly from Rock village, I guess. The Old Man says they've not gotten over just how bad the Yellow Flash trounced them in the last war. He thinks they might get a little assassination happy with his kid. Cloud got kinda grabby with my mom one time, too, like the Hyuuga incident way back when."

Not for the first time since taking over the education and virtual guardianship of Uzumaki Naruto did Ebisu find himself in a state of shock. He should be accustomed to it by now. Sadly, he was not. "Just to clarify, you are the son of the Yondaime Hokage?" Ebisu did a remarkable job of sounding like he was taking this in great stride.

He'd been tasked with making a ninja of the secret offspring of the greatest hero Konoha had ever known. That was a humbling revelation. A terrifying one, as well. What kind of sensei wanted to be responsible for making the Yellow Flash's child anything but the very pinnacle of the ninja arts? Such an example the boy now had to live up to. That was not a healthy measuring stick to judge oneself against, not as a twelve year child just starting his ninja career.

"Yeah, Namikaze Minato himself," Naruto grumbled, not sounding at all pleased, "the asshole who stuck a demon in his kid."

So much for a measuring stick…

xxxx

Dinner was eaten in an awkward silence. Ebisu was not certain how to delve further into the subject of Naruto's parentage without possibly offending the boy. For his part, Naruto was just not in a great mood and didn't feel like taking it out on Sensei.

When the dishes were cleaned and put away, Ebisu used the assignment he'd given Naruto the night before as an opportunity to focus his student's mind elsewhere.

"Have you taken the time to think of the project I gave you last night, Naruto?"

Naruto perked up at the mention of the assignment and said, "Yeah, I got that over with last night. Hold on one second, let me go grab the files and my notes." He dashed to his room and back, meeting the jounin in his study. "Are you sure these are the complete files for Neji and Tenten, Sensei?"

"No, they are not complete, Naruto. As I told you, medical and other personal information was removed."

"I got that, Sensei," Naruto rolled his eyes. "I meant their academic records."

"Then yes, they are as complete as any other academy student's file. I should know, Naruto, I was a chuunin instructor for a time."

Naruto looked pensive and stared at the folder in his hands. "There's so much missing, though!" he finally blurted. "I couldn't find any mention of their genjutsu training, the extent of their sealing knowledge, or what ninjutsu they have been taught beyond the Replacement, Transformation, and Clone techniques. Their chakra affinities aren't even listed anywhere. I guess those might be considered medical information somehow?"

Ebisu did not snort aloud, though it was a close thing. He'd wished for Naruto to notice this very issue. He had not expected it to inspire what looked like denial of the obvious. "You are not mistaken, Naruto, nor is one's chakra affinity listed in their medical records." It would be best to just get this next part over with quickly, like tearing off an adhesive bandage. "Genjutsu is not touched on at the academy except to briefly discuss the concept and possible applications. The most an academy student could be reasonably expected to know about the use of seals is how to insert and remove objects from a storage scroll. The so-called 'academy three', Replacement, Transformation, and Clone, are the only ninjutsu techniques taught to academy students. Proficiency with them is normally considered enough preparation for graduation from the academy and initial placement on a team, subject to failure or acceptance by the genin's jounin leader. We do not know your teammates' chakra affinities because the academy instructors never bothered to learn them."

xxxx

"What? Are you serious, Sensei?" Naruto all but shouted. "That doesn't make any sense!"

Sure, his own experience with a personal tutor who worked him like a dog and who had no use for summer breaks or appreciation for the fine concept of 'weekends off', accelerated his education. It had only been two years, though, and he'd learned so much! With an extra year of normal academy instruction, he'd at least thought his teammates would share an approximate level of skill and knowledge.

"Your dismay is obvious, Naruto, and quite understandable when viewed within your frame of reference. There are many reasons for the academy to limit what is taught to prospective ninja. I will admit, however, that many of the reasons are not very good at all; some are even political," Ebisu said sourly. "Without wasting time this evening listing our grievances with the academy curriculum," Grievances that had led Ebisu to leave his academy teaching position to become a tutor, "let us instead return to the matter at hand. I will give you a few minutes to revise your notes before we proceed."

With a resigned nod, Naruto retrieved a pencil from his pocket and leaned over to hastily scribble on the notes he'd prepared the night before. Less than a minute later, the boy suddenly asked, "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask about what chakra control exercises they know, Sensei."

"Only the leaf exercise is taught to academy students."

That answer earned rolled eyes and a huff from Naruto. He scratched out three lines on the paper and started over.

xxxx

Naruto sat alone in the back of a large academy classroom. It was the first time he'd been here in years. He'd arrived early and under a full body Transformation to obscure his identity and make him look a year older. His coat was in 'stealth mode', turned inside out to hide its blinding orange awesomeness. Today was when the graduating genin would receive their official team assignments. Naruto didn't really see why he had to be here. Sensei was adamant, though, so here he was, waiting for the room to fill with older kids. At least he had his forehead protector now. It made a pretty good incentive to convince the boy to attend today.

Maybe he'd been a little too early. _I shoulda brought a book to read. _Wait a second. _ Ugh, look what you've reduced me to, Sensei. Longing for a book…_

Kids started filtering into the room a few minutes later, some looking like they'd just dragged themselves out of bed and others appeared so nervous they looked twitchy.

He recognized Tenten when she entered, though the girl had matured noticeably from the year old picture in her file. Her brown hair was done up in two buns high up on either side of her head – he reminded himself _not_ to make fun of the hairstyle of a girl with a healthy ninja-like obsession for all things sharp and pointy – and she wore an odd dark green shirt, form fitting but with voluminous sleeves, to go along with her black pants and matching standard issue ninja sandals. A weapon pouch was strapped to each of her thighs, complemented by another at her waist, a short sword across her back, and what Naruto would guess was a storage scroll from the look of it. She probably kept spares and larger items in the scroll. Tenten caught sight of a purple haired girl sitting near the front of the room and hurried over to speak with her.

The classroom was almost full when Neji walked in a while later. Hyuuga were generally hard to miss, with their eerie white eyes and ubiquitous long hair. This Hyuuga walked ramrod straight, as if he were already trying to one up Sensei in a contest for who had the best posture, and the expression on his face was reminiscent of someone who had just tasted something a little too bitter to swallow. Naruto couldn't quite figure out why Neji wrapped his right arm and leg in linen bandages. Actually, it was a ninja fashion trend he'd noticed over the years that continued to defy his understanding. Maybe Neji was covering a recent injury or disguising some really disfiguring scars. Since Sensei hadn't shared medical records with him, he'd just have to keep wondering. Neji found one of three remaining seats and started a staring contest with the chalkboard. This guy was just gonna be a barrel of laughs.

Ten minutes passed and the wall clock he'd stared at while willing time to flow faster with all his might now indicated it was nine AM. The door opened once more and a chuunin instructor Naruto was vaguely familiar with led in a whole bunch of jounin he'd never seen before, with the sole exception of Sensei.

"I would like to congratulate you all and wish you long and successful careers as ninja of Konoha," the chuunin said with a smile. He turned his attention to his clipboard and began by announcing a team number, the appropriate jounin's name, and then calling forward genin in groups of three. As each team received its final member, their jounin would quietly lead them from the room.

"Team Nine, under jounin commander Kunugi Ebisu will be Higurashi Tenten," the girl waved goodbye to her friend and hurriedly walked over to Sensei, who had stepped forward when his name was called. "Hyuuga Neji," Naruto distinctly heard dreamy sighs from no less than three of the females remaining in the room. Oh come on, really? "Uzum-what, Uzumaki Naruto?" that definitely caught the chuunin by surprise. He looked at his list, glanced back at Sensei, who nodded, and looked at the list again.

Grinning at the reaction, Naruto dropped his Transformation and waved at the confused man.

xxxx

A/N: Not just a Kyuubi reveal, but the whole enchilada. I've never agreed with Naruto being kept in the dark for so long in canon. It was stupid and cruel. Mostly just stupid. I do hope I handled Naruto's reaction to the news in a believable or at least mostly acceptable manner. I know his reaction does not match what would be expected from canon Naruto, but then this Naruto is far removed from canon.

If you've read and enjoyed the story so far, please toss a review my way. I've already made use of input from readers and would love more.

Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/5/2012


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Ten:

xxxx

"If you would follow me, I have taken the liberty of reserving an unused room here in the academy for our first team meeting," Ebisu said as he led the genin away from the classroom where team assignments were still being made. The group's destination had once been a third floor conference room that was set aside with the intent of teaching an elective course on medical ninjutsu. Those plans fell through not long after their driving force, Princess Senju Tsunade, left the village. Since then, it had served many purposes, from storage space to temporary instructor's lounge. No one ever did get around to teaching that medic course.

"This place seems way smaller than the last time I saw it," Naruto commented to no one in particular. He was following directly behind Sensei, Tenten at his side with Neji lagging a few feet behind.

"How long has it been?" Tenten asked curiously. "Oh, I'm sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm Higurashi Tenten. It's nice to meet you." She smiled and extended her hand.

Naruto shook the proffered hand firmly and grinned. "It's nice to meet you, Tenten! I'm Uzumaki Naruto." They were in the stairwell now, but progress was halted as a class of children, none looking older than nine, was escorted to physical training disguised as recess by a harried looking chuunin. She gave Ebisu a nod of thanks for allowing her horde to pass uninterrupted. To Tenten, Naruto answered, "It's been just over two years now since I was withdrawn from the academy. I hope I wasn't as small back then as these midgets!" He pointed to the back of the final student to file past their group, a kid with wearing a long scarf and funny hat. Naruto's example turned to glare, looking ready to fight, but the chuunin escorting the children just grabbed hold of his scarf and dragged him away.

If she was confused earlier, now Tenten was just dumbfounded. It was clear her blond teammate was at least a year younger than her or Neji, and he spoke of being taken out of the academy years ago, so how had he been assigned to her team?

Naruto laughed when he noticed Tenten's expression. To answer her obvious, if unspoken question, he said, "I was in a bad accident and had to be withdrawn from the academy because no one was sure if I could be still be a ninja or not. Once I proved I could work around the problems caused by the accident, the Old Man hired a tutor to teach me, and here I am!" A fist-pump and hop in the air punctuated his awesomeness.

By this point they were in a third floor corridor one hallway over from the stairwell. Ebisu led them into a slightly dusty room, one side of which was piled high with broken training dummies and stacks of student-abused textbooks, the other held a wooden table with half a dozen matching chairs flipped over resting on the battered tabletop. Once the chairs were removed and placed on the floor, Ebisu sat and gestured for his team to sit opposite him.

"As you were informed, my name is Kunugi Ebisu, a jounin of Konoha," Ebisu said by way of introduction. "My area of greatest expertise is the instruction of other ninja, thus I am well versed in all of the ninja arts and skilled in passing my knowledge along to my students. The goal I will work toward, with your assistance, is to mold each of you into the most effective ninja you can be. You may address me by name or refer to me by the moniker of Sensei or Mentor." He focused his attention on Naruto, sitting between Tenten and Neji, and almost bouncing in his seat. "Beginning with Naruto, I would like you each to give a brief introduction," he prompted.

xxxx

Naruto wasn't sure about this business of Ebisu letting them call him anything but Sensei. More often than not he forgot the man had any other name.

"Uzumaki Naruto here, nice to meet you both! Even if we do already know each other's names and Tenten and I did just kinda do this. Whatever! I just turned twelve a few weeks ago. My favorite color is orange and my favorite place to eat is Ichiraku's; ramen is the One True Food. Sensei taught me to be such a kickass ninja that I got promoted early, which is gonna make it even easier to become Hokage one day, so you can believe he really knows his stuff!" If Naruto had his way, he'd become the Godaime even younger than when his father rose to his position as Yondaime. Unlike dear old dad, Naruto planned on sticking around long enough to let the Old Man actually enjoy his retirement. It would be embarrassing for the Sandaime to have to take over _again_ in twenty or thirty years.

Naruto felt hesitant to share this next piece of trivia, since Sensei was the only one he'd told so far. "I used to think I was just a no-name orphan, but I found out from the Old Man that the Uzumaki's were a powerful clan in the village of Whirling Tides, a long time ally of Konoha. It was destroyed by a bunch of other ninja villages 'cause they were scared of how awesome Whirling Tides was, and that kicked off the last big ninja war." There, that wasn't so hard at all.

"Tenten, if you would?"

"Right! I'm Higurashi Tenten and I'm thirteen years old. I'm the first ninja in my family, though many of my ancestors were samurai in Iron country. I wish to become a powerful and respected female ninja just like Princess Tsunade. My hobby is mastering the use of all the different weapons sold in my parents' shop. My father did not want me to become a ninja, he'd prefer if I stuck to the family business, but my mother has always encouraged me to follow my dreams!"

Naruto had all kinds of crazy ideas he wanted to talk to Tenten about.

"And Neji?"

The white-eyed boy's response, after several uncomfortably long moments of silence, was, "I am Hyuuga Neji. My destiny is to become a powerful ninja." He offered nothing more.

Naruto wasn't sure about this guy at all. No, he was _sure_ Neji had issues.

Sensei did not act perturbed by Neji's less than comprehensive intro. "As a newly formed genin team, you are expected to regularly engage in D-Rank missions. These missions are supposedly meant as team building exercises. In reality they are a form of low cost labor and busy work intended to give your team leader time to adequately train you to undertake more difficult C-Rank missions. Therefore, unless you desire to earn extra spending money, we will perform only the minimum number of D-Ranks necessary to meet Chuunin exam entry requirements."

_What the hell, Sensei?_ Naruto actually needed that spending money. Sensei hadn't said anything about it, but now that he was a genin, wasn't he supposed to move back into his apartment? He would much rather stay with Sensei and pay the man rent than live alone in his free apartment. Ramen wasn't cheap, either! Not in the quantities he consumed.

"We will allot a minimum of six hours per day, six days a week, to your individual and team training. If you have personal commitments that will interfere with training, I would prefer to be informed well in advance."

They were going to get a day off every week? And only six hours of training a day? Naruto wasn't sure what he would possibly do with that much free time. He'd have to check with the Old Man to see if there were any solo D-Rank missions he could take.

xxxx

"In the coming weeks, my priority will be to begin filling in the gaps in your education left by the academy. Neji, your taijutsu is excellent, of course, and Tenten, your prowess with weapons, especially at range, is quite noteworthy. There will be a time to further refine your base skills after I am satisfied with your progress in other areas." Ebisu removed several sheets of chakra paper from his vest and pushed one across the table to each of his students, Naruto included. It seemed like just yesterday when he first performed this ritual with the boy.

"When you channel chakra into this specially prepared paper, it will react in a telltale manner indicative of your chakra affinity. Ninjutsu techniques that utilize your chakra affinity will be much easier for you to learn and will require less chakra to cast. They will also tend to be considerably more powerful than would otherwise be expected. An example, please, Naruto?"

Knowing just what to expect, Naruto gripped the slip of paper between his thumb and forefinger, channeling just enough chakra to cause the paper to react. His control was much improved, that's what mastering seventeen different varieties of chakra control exercises will do for a guy, causing the paper to simply take on a silvery metallic sheen without expelling a huge amount of extra chakra as visible light. Naruto didn't stop with turning the paper into iron. A bit more chakra was applied and the transformed paper smoothly morphed into a kunai. Tenten's breath hitched and she leaned in close to examine the newly created blade, trying to discern what trickery or sleight of hand was involved.

"Chakra natures commonly fall into five categories: earth, fire, lightning, water, and wind. As Naruto demonstrated, there are, however, other chakra natures. Outside of a Bloodline gift, only the most extraordinary circumstances imbue one with a non-standard chakra affinity."

Tenten was still staring at Naruto's new kunai. He grinned and held it out to the girl, hilt first. "You can have it if you want, Tenten. I didn't put much chakra into it, though. It might last a few more minutes." She accepted, but set it aside for the moment, determined to discover if she too had the kind of chakra that would let her turn stuff into weapons.

Mimicking Naruto, Tenten gripped the paper between thumb and index finger. Her control was certainly better than Naruto's first attempt. There was no flare of visible chakra as the paper crinkled itself almost in half. "Very nice, Tenten. You appear to possess a very powerful lightning affinity. When you learn elemental chakra conversion, your many weapons will become even more deadly. Tomorrow I will have a scroll prepared detailing a number of simple, but effective lightning-based ninjutsu that should be useable with your current chakra reserves."

Tenten smiled radiantly. "Thank you, Sensei!"

Naruto nodded approvingly at the girl's form of address. He was liking her more already.

All eyes soon turned to Neji. With a put upon sigh and a small grimace, as if expecting it to burst into flames, the boy touched a single finger to the paper. It immediately crumbled into small pile of dust.

"Earth-natured, a rarity among the Hyuuga, if I'm not mistaken," Ebisu commented. "As a frontline taijutsu specialist your earth affinity, properly developed, will greatly expand your control of any battlefield. Though my repertoire of earth ninjutsu is not extensive, I will have no trouble preparing a scroll of techniques for you to begin with." Ebisu stood. "We will break early today. Do not expect that to happen often. Please arrive at the Hokage Tower tomorrow morning no later than seven AM."

Instructions delivered, he disappeared in a Konoha body flicker.

xxxx

"Heh, that's Sensei for ya. He might seem stuffy, but he's really cool once you get to know him!" He didn't want Neji or Tenten to get the wrong idea about Sensei. "If you guys don't have anything important to do, I know a training ground that'll be empty. We can spar or I can show you some chakra control exercises for your affinities."

"I have clan duties to attend to," responded Neji. Without further words, the Hyuuga exited the room.

Tenten did not look surprised by Neji's refusal of the offer. "Don't mind Neji, he's always been a stick in the mud. This time last year he probably wouldn't have bothered to give a reason before leaving. In another five or six years he might be a real conversationalist." They shared a laugh at their departed teammate's expense.

"So how about it, Tenten? I've got a training ground all to myself and there's still plenty of daylight to burn."

"Lead the way, kiddo. Mom and dad won't be looking for me till supper time."

"Kiddo? I'm only a year younger than you!" Naruto whined.

A passing chuunin instructor stuck her head into the room to bust the kids for playing hooky in the junk room, saw that they wore forehead protectors, and went on her way; just a couple of the recent grads lagging behind.

Tenten moved to follow her pouting teammate, not forgetting to snag the miracle kunai. They hadn't even reached the stairs when the girl's close examination of the kunai – it was the proper weight, well balanced for throwing, and the edge was razor sharp – when it reverted to a piece of paper then disintegrated into a puff of dust so fine it might as well have been smoke. She, "aww'd" at its loss.

"Told ya, Old Lady," Naruto said, with a grin.

"Fine, fine, you win, Naruto. You're not kiddo if I'm not Old Lady."

"That'll work, I guess. Can Neji still be asshole? That's what I'm currently calling him in my head since Sensei would probably get annoyed if I said it aloud."

Tenten giggled, looking much more like a young girl and not a trained ninja who had just been fawning over a well made blade.

This was going really well, as far as Naruto could tell. His interactions with girls had been few and far between, but Tenten seemed a lot like the guys, except she giggled sometimes. Well, there had been that one time Kiba was talking about some magazine he'd found in the garbage. Poor Akamaru had finally resorted to ankle biting to stop his human's weirdness.

They walked in companionable silence for a few minutes before Naruto said, "Sensei says you've got crazy good aim with your weapons." No need to mention his review of her academy files just yet.

"Yeah, they're my specialty actually. I'm good with melee weapons, like Sensei said, but I'm _really_ good with all kinds of projectiles. I had one hundred percent accuracy on every throwing drill throughout the last three years at the academy." Tenten was rightly proud of her accomplishment. It was a record that would probably stand for years to come. Even though she didn't manage Rookie of the Year, her instructors were impressed enough to give her a small plaque, engraved with a pair of kunai and a shuriken stuck in a bull's-eye, commemorating her achievement.

"How do you feel about explosives?"

That question was odd and off topic enough to draw a puzzled stare from the girl. Finally, she asked, "You mean like explosive tags?"

"Yep. I was thinking, someone with your range and accuracy could be a real fiend in combat if you were flinging around exploding kunai."

There was an exciting thought. Tenten smiled at the mental image of a horde of bandits, their bloodied remains lying burned and broken, courtesy of a few well placed explosive tags. "I know how to use them, we just covered that in class not too long ago. Mom and dad wouldn't let me have any from the store, though. They're kinda expensive and dad kept going on and on about me losing an eye." That was slightly embarrassing to admit to her fellow ninja. Overprotective parents were a drag.

_Never fear, Uzumaki Naruto is here!_ Naruto thought with a silent cheer at the awesomeness he was about to unleash upon the world. He drew an unremarkable kunai from his weapon pouch and showed it to Tenten. "See, just a normal kunai, right?" He concentrated for a second, pushing chakra and imprinting a very specific pattern into the crystalline structure of the blade. The only outward change in the kunai was a small Uzumaki spiral mark that appeared at the base of its blade. "Now it's an exploding kunai. Just like a tag, but with shrapnel! It works the exact same way as a tag, too. Just prime it with your chakra and you can set it to detonate in a few seconds or on command."

Tenten froze, the implications of her teammate's feat rendering such things as walking totally unimportant.

Naruto regarded his motionless teammate with concern. He really hoped he hadn't broken her already.

Slowly, over the course of several seconds, Tenten sorta seemed to transform as Naruto watched. Her eyes lit up – was that a chakra trick he'd never heard of – and the smile now decorating her face was positively scary. When she spoke it was in a whisper that made Naruto's spine shiver. "This is the start of a beautiful friendship, Naruto. They won't know what hit them." Whoever _they_ were, Naruto pitied them.

xxxx

A/N: As I told one reviewer a few days ago, Tenten is going to be a Weapons Mistress of Mass Destruction, a WMMD! I'm going to have fun with her character.

Neji is hard to write. I know the character well enough; he's just such a tool that I don't want to seem like I'm bashing him unduly. As a heads up, though, don't expect him to start tossing "loser" or "failure" or anything like that at this Naruto. Neji recognizes talent and skill and knows when someone's "destiny" has aligned in their favor. We'll just have to see how he develops.

Sadly, I'm going out of town tomorrow and won't be back until next week, Monday at the earliest but probably Tuesday. I won't even have access to a computer to get any writing done. My update a day streak will be coming to an end.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/6/2012


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Eleven:

xxxx

Three weeks after the formation of Team Nine, they were just now getting around to their second D-Rank mission. After the first, painting an old lady's fence and harvesting what remained of her garden, none of the genin was particularly looking forward to what was to come, Naruto least of all. What would it be this time? Dog walking? Maybe babysitting? It was a small consolation that Sensei would insist on a D-Rank that could be completed within a reasonable amount of time to leave room for training.

Sensei led his team past the mission desk and deeper into the Hokage Tower.

Three weeks wasn't a long time, but it was more than enough to make a difference in the skill and power of a fresh genin team. Naruto, with his greater range of skill, progressed less quickly than his teammates. Few days went by where Sensei did not assign him to assisting Neji or Tenten with some facet of the ninja arts, while the jounin focused his full attention on the other. He didn't resent this lack of personal attention from Sensei. Filling in as a teaching assistant was kinda cool, too. The practice he got now would serve him well when he eventually became a jounin and took a team of his own.

Tenten was progressing well. She was a long way from achieving elemental chakra conversion with her lightning nature, but she had learned two useful techniques from Sensei. When working with Naruto, more often than not, Tenten was seen tossing pencil thin lightning bolts at the boy. Power was not the point of the exercise, nor was accuracy; the tendency lightning ninjutsu had to gravitate unnaturally toward Naruto made aiming difficult. Instead, she worked on her casting rate, increasing the speed of her hand seals while simultaneously, and so far unsuccessfully, attempting to decrease the number of seals required. Her other lightning technique required physical contact with a target, or the use of a metal weapon to conduct the effect, that caused muscle spasms or even temporary paralysis. As she became more familiar with the techniques, they cost less chakra to use and her reserves grew in counterpoint.

For his part, Naruto mainly acted as a target for the girl. He dodged, dipped, ducked, dived, and dodged! Even the most minor lightning techniques were dangerous for him. Not only were they spectacularly painful, it felt like his bones were melting and his organs burning when even grazed by one of Tenten's bolts, lightning completely interfered with Naruto's ability to regulate the chakra flow he needed to move his limbs. It was a glaring and potentially fatal weakness he currently had no real defense against other than avoidance. In between bouts of target duty, however, Naruto was able to teach Tenten the most minor genjutsu he knew. It was an easy one to cast, requiring only a single hand seal even for a beginner, which shifted a target's perception of an incoming attack up to about twenty centimeters in a direction desired by the caster. It could not be layered with other genjutsu techniques, meaning that a target under the effects of any other stronger technique wouldn't be affected, and its duration was two to three seconds at most. Despite the limitations, Naruto thought it would work well with the girl's preferred combat style and Sensei agreed.

Neji was a tougher nut for Naruto to crack. The older boy just wouldn't engage in conversation unless the topic was training related and he never wanted to hang out with his teammates after regular hours, for training, conversation, or a quick meal. On the training front, though, Neji lived up to his genius status. His taijutsu was much better than that of his fellow genin and Naruto boggled at the Hyuuga's hand speed. His tenketsu, at least those hidden beneath iron armor, were immune to effects from the Hyuuga's jyuken, and he could defend the rest if he devoted his entire attention to doing so. Thankfully, Sensei only made them spar a few times. Stalemates weren't fun at all.

The earth ninjutsu techniques provided by Sensei were absorbed quickly by Neji. Two of the five were purely defensive and one could qualify as attack or defense depending on how it was employed. Sensei knew of a powerful Hyuuga-specific defense technique, but had no idea how it functioned or the method used to train one in its use. Much like Tenten attempted to electrocute her Naruto, he tried to bludgeon or explode Neji into submission. It was good practice for blunting the normally razor-edged shrapnel and blade-like protrusions created by his Iron Release techniques. Where Naruto was forced to dodge lightning bolts, however, Neji was not allowed to avoid the attacks directed at him, at least not in a conventional sense. Submerging himself in the earth was an acceptable dodge, but everything else required an earth technique; walls or cocoons of earth or mud, forming an earth clone and keeping it in reserve for a later Replacement, and occasionally turning aside an incoming attack with one of his own served to heighten Neji's proficiency with his affinity.

He was already trimming off hand seals here and there while increasing their cast speed. When Naruto did not press him too hard, Neji was sometimes able to squeeze in a counterattack of his own. For the sake of fairness, Naruto did not attempt to dodge these occasional attempts at offence, using his own Iron Release to mostly mimic the earth ninjutsu Neji was forced to employ.

All in all, Team Nine seemed well on its way to kicking ass.

Naruto was not expecting Sensei to lead them into the Hokage's office. Were they being assigned an awesome mission already? There had to be a bandit king in need of capture or a princess requiring rescue somewhere nearby. Maybe the Old Man was experiencing a manpower shortage and needed to send his favorite new genin team out to accomplish the task?

"Hokage-Sama," Sensei said as he bowed respectfully. Tenten and Neji hurriedly followed his example, never having been in the presence of the venerated Sandaime Hokage. The village leader returned their greetings and briefly inquired about the progress of their training.

"Yo, Old Man! You got an awesome mission for us today?" Naruto asked, unaware of the wide-eyed looks of horror his teammates were now directing at him.

The Hokage laughed fondly and shook his head. "Sorry, Naruto, but I don't have any awesome missions for you today." He rummaged through a pile of scrolls sitting in an unfamiliar bin on his desk.

"Aw," the boy pouted. "I thought Sensei was bringing us all up here for something cool."

"No such luck, Naruto. It's just Monday. I like to distribute mission assignments myself once or twice a week. The looks of despair on my genins' faces warm this old man's heart," the Old Man joked. "Yes, that look exactly!" he pointed at Naruto with another laugh.

Tenten and Neji had often heard Naruto toss out a reference to 'the Old Man'. Each had assumed him to be a wealthy sponsor whose attention the highly skilled boy had caught sometime before his mysterious accident. You had to be loaded to pay a jounin to tutor someone for two solid years, after all. Now it appeared that Naruto's benefactor was none other than the Hokage himself, who referred to the boy by name and cracked jokes at his expense.

xxxx

Tenten watched as Naruto crouched to touch the ground and fed chakra into the earth below. Eight shallow depressions formed around him, an iron clone growing from each. "Here ya go, Tenten. Without me controlling them they're kinda dumb, but they'll do what you say. I put enough chakra into them so that they should last all day. Neji can make his own clones if he wants to do this the easy way." Four of the clones followed Naruto and four remained behind to use at her discretion.

The new D-Rank mission assigned by the Hokage was higher paying than average. Being much more labor intensive than a normal D-Rank, this was understandable. Delivering construction supplies to more than two dozen training grounds and other assorted locations throughout the village would require most of the day if they didn't creatively apply their ninjutsu training. Or in other words, cheat.

A marked map in one hand and a list of materials slated for each site in the other, Tenten addressed her new assistants. "Okay, boys, let's get started. Follow me." Her destination was one of the warehouses indicated on the map provided with the mission briefing.

Three hours later and Tenten was nearly done, with all but one location scratched off her list. Using her cadre of Naruto clones to do all the heavy lifting and to pull the carts, the girl didn't even feel like she'd done any work. The clones were silent automatons unable to hold a conversation, leaving her bored and cranky, if fully rested for training after lunch. It didn't help at all that almost every civilian villager she encountered was going out of their way to be an asshole. At first Tenten thought they were disgruntled with her for some reason. She'd even come up with a theory to explain the villagers' ire. Genin weren't often available for this type of manual labor. Surely there were civilians who were paid to deliver goods around the village. Seeing a young ninja stealing jobs and looking none too happy doing it, might get on many peoples' nerves.

Her assumption, weak as it was, didn't even last through the first hour of the mission. Tenten quickly came to realize that she herself wasn't the target of the villagers' discontent. Her blond teammate, or his clones, did not seem well liked. Villagers scowled, muttered unintelligibly as they passed, spit in a clone's path more than once, and one enterprising old lady tried to sic her dog on a clone. The clone's leg fared better than the poor mutt's teeth.

Whenever she did manage to pick up a snatch of conversation, they mostly went something like:

"…monster…a ninja now…"

"…demon brat…killed…"

"…shhh…demon…you…"

Then there was the portly middle-aged man who stumbled out of a bar she and the clones were passing, smelling of cheap sake and stale tobacco smoke, who upon seeing the duplicates of Naruto, ran away screaming, "It's multiplying! Run! Run before it devours your soul!" Honestly, weren't there laws against public drunkenness? Or serving alcohol at all before noon?

This was getting ridiculous! Either something was in the water supply making everyone crazy or her teammate was a depraved serial killer who had managed to befriend the Hokage to avoid being brought to justice. Once this last delivery was taken care of she'd find out what was going on, even if she had to ask the Hokage!

Tenten stepped into the academy for the first time since being assigned to Team Nine, grateful to find the chuunin who stood watch over the entryway to be at her desk.

"Excuse me, ma'am," she said, startling the attendant who looked to have been engrossed in reading a little orange book, "I have a delivery from Namiashi Ninja Supply."

xxxx

It was only through great effort that Iruka restrained himself from inflicting grave bodily harm upon Inuzuka Kiba. Well, it did help that the boy looked like he'd been thrashed within an inch of his life. Tsume, Kiba's mother, probably wasn't very happy to discover her clan was being billed for the damage caused by her son's prank gone wrong. The fire was extinguished before major structural damage could be done, but Iruka's desk and the entire front row of student desks would need to be replaced. The scorched floor and ceiling would be repaired soon enough. It went without saying that Kiba was relegated to detention for the remainder of his career as a student of the Konoha ninja academy. Iruka had entertained the thought of holding weekend sessions just for Kiba's benefit.

Thankfully, there were enough vacant desks in the room so that those few who sat up front could temporarily find a seat. Except for Kiba; he sat on the floor.

"Who can tell me which figure is widely recognized as having had the most influence on the course of the second great ninja war?" Iruka asked.

Only one hand among his students was raised, as expected.

"Saku-"

KNOCK KNOCK

"Hold that thought, Sakura."

Iruka cracked the door open to find a young female genin waiting outside. He recognized the girl's face from seeing her around the academy, but had never instructed her, so he didn't feel guilty not remembering her name.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"I've got two cart loads of desks waiting outside," the genin answered. "Is this the right place, sir?"

"That it is, miss." Iruka opened the door fully and asked. "Do you need any assistance bringing them in?"

"No thanks, I've got help waiting outside. I'll be back in just a minute." She disappeared from view.

"It looks like we'll be getting replacements for the desks Kiba destroyed last week sooner than I expected." Said delinquent perked up at the prospect of getting out of his embarrassing position. "Don't worry, Kiba, you can keep your spot."

xxxx

Tenten returned to the classroom, this time leading a small procession of desk toting Naruto clones.

"Where should I leave these, sir?" she asked the chuunin instructor. It felt odd standing before a class of students no older than her blond teammate.

"You can just leave them over by the window there, the one with the least amount of soot."

She nodded and turned to the clones still standing in the hallway. "Bring them in, boys."

The commotion that erupted moments after the first clone stepped into the room was unexpected. Couldn't she take them anywhere without causing a disturbance?

ARF! ARF! Barked a small white dog. It was sitting on the head of a heavily bruised and bandaged boy who was seated in the middle of a charred patch of the floor.

"Naruto?" asked the chuunin instructor when he saw multiple copies of her teammate carrying desks into the room.

For the first time all day, Tenten found an adult who didn't loath Naruto on sight. He didn't sound very hateful, at least. Ninja could hide that kind of thing, though.

"Sorry, Naruto isn't here," she told the sensei. "They're just clones Naruto made to help with my deliveries."

xxxx

A/N: Trying to get back in the saddle, folks. Four days away doesn't seem like much, but it's really thrown me off. This chapter took way long to write than it should have and it's shorter than I would like.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/11/2012


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Twelve:

xxxx

Naruto, judging by the appearance of his clones, looked to be doing well for himself, Iruka noted. Now merely of average height instead of being a bit short for his age and decked out in full ninja gear, including a finely crafted orange coat and a blackened forehead protector, the boy cut an impressive figure for a young genin. Iruka was startled to realize more than a year had passed since he'd last spoken with Naruto. His former student had been well into his training with Ebisu at that point, following a regime that was sure to turn him into a ninja at the expense of free time and social interaction. The relentless pace of the jounin's instruction obviously paid off, though, considering that Naruto was already a genin. It was an impressive feat considering the recent age restrictions placed upon graduates. Hokage-sama must have felt very strongly about Naruto's prowess to circumvent his own guidelines.

"One more load and we'll be out of your hair, sir," Naruto's teammate said, leading the clones out of the classroom.

A not so quiet murmuring broke out amongst his students at the girl's departure. Several hands shot into the air as well. Iruka sighed, pinching the scarred bridge of his nose, and picked a student least likely to say something stupid.

"Shikamaru?" prompted the chuunin, quite surprised the lazy Nara even bothered to lift his head from his desk, let alone ask a question.

"Yes, Naruto is a ninja now. No, he wasn't crippled for life. Now can you all quiet down, please?" Shikamaru promptly lay back down and resumed his nap.

Well, that saved him some trouble.

"Where do you get off acting like you know what you're talking about, Shikamaru?" Yamanaka Ino demanded, reaching over to jab Shikamaru with a pencil.

Or just made the situation more troublesome. How ironic.

The recumbent Nara made a rude gesture in Ino's direction, prompting the blond girl to stand up and growl something Iruka couldn't understand, but from the gasps of nearby classmates must have been dire. Once again, the situation was spiraling out of control. It happened once or twice a week, though he couldn't recall a single incident where Shikamaru was involved. More often than not, it was Kiba causing trouble, or one of several female students, Ino included, who initiated a confrontation with another girl over Uchiha Sasuke's affections. Iruka really was grateful he wouldn't be teaching these children for another year. They were good kids, more or less, but puberty and hormones and teen angst was right around the corner. Let their jounin leader's deal with that frustration.

It was another surprise to hear the normally soft-spoken and self-effacing Akimichi Chouji trying to diffuse the Ino threat. "We hang out with Naruto sometimes, Ino. That's how Shikamaru knew he was a ninja."

ARF! ARF!

Iruka saw Kiba nod from his position on the floor, agreeing with whatever his ninja puppy barked. "Chill out, Ino, Chouji's right. Jeez, why you gotta be so damned annoying all the time?"

"Excuse me, flea-breath? I'm annoying? That's rich coming from the idiot who almost burned down the academy! My hair still smells like smoke!"

"You're a yappy bitch, aren't you?"

Reminding himself that use of killing intent against the student body had been banned years ago, Iruka shouted, "That's enough! One more word out of anyone and they'll be keeping Kiba company in detention this afternoon. Ino, you'll be staying after classes regardless. Does anyone else have anything to say?" Absolute silence was the collective answer to his question. Ino was red-faced and glaring, her gaze miraculously not boring a hole through the back of Kiba's skull.

Less than a minute later Naruto's teammate returned, the clones accompanying her carrying two more student desks and a replacement for his own pile of charcoal. The tension from the aborted free-for-all still hung heavy in the air, along with the not-quite-there but almost formed killing intent radiating from Ino without focus, put the young genin girl on edge. Iruka noticed her shoulders tense and watched as she surreptitiously surveyed his classroom for threats. Admirable senses for one so young. Several long moments without an attack were enough to put the girl off her guard. She sent the Naruto clones from the room and asked, "Could you sign for the desks, sir?"

When the genin was gone, Iruka took a moment to inspect his newly acquired furniture. It looked like the one he'd picked out of the catalogue, the model with the built in security sealed drawers and tamper-resistant varnish.

xxxx

"Using the byakugan in conjunction with earth passage and earth ninjutsu techniques does make for a powerful combination," Neji admitted to his younger teammate. His initial assessment of Naruto had not been flattering. At first glance, second and third, too, the boy was too immature and full of an idiotic exuberance that was totally unbecoming of a ninja. Weeks of working with Naruto, however, made Neji's question his observational skills. Too often his teammate's irreverent childishness would slip away to reveal a focused mind with keen insight into the ninja arts. He was finding it difficult to determine which was the real Naruto and which was the mask, or if there was a mask at all and the boy was just that mercurial.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "It won't work all the time, but there are bound to be a lot of ninja who would have no way to fight an underground opponent, especially one who can attack at leisure and track their targets' movements perfectly. I can half-ass it using my False Life Imitation creations to act as my eyes above ground." He pointed out an innocuous seeming bird sitting in a nearby tree. Neji activated his Bloodline just long enough to see the shimmering thread of chakra stretching from Naruto to the bird that was not a bird. "That's not a patch on your byakugan, though."

Hyuuga did not typically make heavy use of ninjutsu. That is not to say they were incapable or did not eventually learn some techniques, the jyuken was simply so powerful in the hands of a byakugan user that many disdained 'lesser' methods of combat. It was a failing of his clan, one of many, Neji sought to overcome. His destiny was to be powerless in the otherwise powerful Hyuuga clan, silent and unseen within the compound and village politics at large. The only method open to him to influence his relatives was through the example he set. Ebisu's tutelage, helped along surprisingly by Naruto, was opening up another avenue of approach for Neji. Let the Elders sneer ineffectually; he would continue to be the most gifted jyuken practitioner born to the clan in living memory, surpassing any of the Main line. Instead of turning down the knowledge he was being offered, he would embrace it. The earth would crack and tremble at his passing.

"The chakra drain of using both the byakugan and earth passage together is not minor," Neji pointed out, aware that despite the advantage his Bloodline gave him, it was not without drawbacks. Chakra expenditure was not, however, an insurmountable obstacle. Being able to physically see ones' own chakra made gauging personal reserves literally a blink of the eye. Neji estimated his chakra had increased by more than half since joining Team Nine. Constant use coupled with relentless chakra control exercises was proving extremely effective.

"I have witnessed Hyuuga who are able to activate their byakugan through sheer force of will, requiring neither hand seals nor verbal focus," Ebisu injected into the discussion, having up to this point remained silent as his students talked. "What was not clear was whether this was a product of experience, skill, or a maturation of the byakugan itself. Rapidly cycling between active and inactive states could offer increased chakra efficiency, if at the expense of uninterrupted vision."

Neji forced himself not to frown at the jounin's better than average knowledge of his clan's Bloodline. The clan stressed secrecy above all, rationalizing that those who did not understand their abilities could not adequately counter them. It was one of the few tenets of his clan he agreed with without reservation. "I can already activate my byakugan at will," he confessed, not sharing that he was the youngest Hyuuga known to ever possess the ability. To demonstrate, he concentrated and flooded chakra to his eyes, mentally forcing the change to take place. Colors fell away and chakra exploded into full view in a nearly three hundred and sixty degree view of his surroundings, while his eyes and the veins feeding them bulged dramatically. Unfortunately the process took nearly six seconds to initiate.

"As you can see, it currently takes too long to be used as you suggest." It was a good idea, though. With his byakugan still active, Neji saw his other teammate about to enter the training ground, followed by four of Naruto's iron clones. "Tenten approaches."

xxxx

Tenten marched up to Naruto and boldly asked, "How come just about every civilian in my path that sees one of your clones is angry or terrified?" By this point she was certain the Transformation illusion her teammate wore when they went out for lunch wasn't just to make him look a little older. Darkening his hair and removing the whisker-like marks on his cheeks hardly made Naruto unrecognizable, but it made a hell of a difference to most of the populace.

Mostly joking, she added, "You're not some sort of murdering psychopath, right?"

Despite the attempt at humor, she was concerned. It's not easy to earn the kind of reputation Naruto appeared to have without doing something truly heinous.

xxxx

Naruto mentally cursed himself for a fool, Tenten's questions now reminding him that he should have altered the appearance of his clones. His teammate had been dealing with asshole villagers all day.

There were a few passable excuses he'd come up with to explain why most of the village hated him, though none of them would hold up under more than casual scrutiny. The simplest and least dishonest was suggested by the Old Man. Being the only child born on the day of the Kyuubi's attack, at least the only one who survived the monster's attack, seeing Naruto as an ill omen wouldn't be unprecedented. When your best lie is so flimsy, sometimes it's best to just tell the truth. Telling his teammates about being a jinchuuriki was not high on Naruto's list of things to do, even if the truth was bound to come out one day. He'd rather solidify his friendship with them before dropping that kind of information into their laps.

He glanced at Sensei, silently asking for advice. The jounin's answering nod was barely perceptible.

If the Old Man could tell this story after keeping it hidden from him his whole life, Naruto could manage after knowing his teammates for less than a month. "Well, now that you mention it, Tenten…"

The girl's eyes widened at Naruto's reply, hand drifting towards a kunai pouch of its own accord.

Naruto laughed at Tenten's expression. "Aw, come on, you didn't really think I could be a murdering psychopath? The villagers are assholes, but I wouldn't go around killing them!" He laughed again.

"It did seem out of character for you. So what's going on then?" she asked, taking a seat in the grass a few feet from her teammates.

"I can tell you both, if you want me to, but it's an S-Rank village secret for some stupid reason, meaning you'll be executed for treason if you get caught telling anyone else." He let that sink in, taking in the reactions from Tenten and Neji. The Hyuuga appeared intrigued, probably wondering how such classified information could be attached to a newly minted genin, one who could apparently share the secret freely without consequences that would see the death of any other. Tenten was harder to figure out. How strange was it that he could make a guess at the thoughts of someone as reserved and uptight as Neji while being thoroughly confused by his much more open and friendly, but all too female teammate?

"Well?" Tenten finally prompted, making the universal gesture for 'go on'. See, he would have never guessed she'd say that.

Deciding to go about this a bit differently than the Old Man, Naruto lifted his shirt to reveal his iron sheathed abdomen. Channeling chakra caused the seal array centered on his navel to appear, first as blue chakra, then darkening to an inky black. "This seal was placed on me by the Yondaime Hokage the day I was born, shortly before he died. Using the seal is actually what killed him, since he had to make a deal with the Death God so it would function." Tenten's gasp was a signal to let his shirt fall, once more covering the hated seal.

"The reason a ninja as powerful as the Yondaime needed to sell his soul to the Death God is because the Kyuubi is an immortal creature that cannot be killed, only temporarily dispersed or contained. He chose to contain it."

Tenten had moist, watery eyes by this point and Neji was pressing his right hand to his forehead protector while clenching his left so tightly that his knuckles were popping.

"The Old Man never has explained how everyone in the village found out that I have the Kyuubi sealed inside me. That's why they all hate me. They think I'm the Kyuubi reborn, or that I could let it out any time I want, or maybe I'm just a reminder of all the loved ones they lost to the monster. Younger people in the village don't know because the Old Man passed a law making knowledge of the Kyuubi's whereabouts an S-Rank secret. He hoped-"

Naruto was completely unprepared for a crying Tenten to attach herself to him in a rib straining hug. Sensei had never taught him how to deal with this kind of situation!

"Uh…don't cry, Tenten," Naruto said, patting the girl's shoulder gently.

"I'm not crying," the girl sniffled, "there's just something in my eye."

Over his teammate's shoulder, Naruto mouthed a silent, 'Help!' to Sensei and Neji, both of whom just shrugged. He was on his own for this one.

xxxx

In retrospect, Shikamaru should have known that Ino would seek him out once she was released from detention. Due to that failing, he was now stuck holding the girl immobile with his family's Shadow Imitation technique. If he was any slower, Ino may have been able to complete her possession technique and there was no telling what havoc she'd be wreaking using his body.

"I'm gonna get you, Shika!" Ino screeched. Shikamaru winced at the piercing volume, slightly increasing the chakra he applied to his extended shadow until its control crept up high enough to silence the Yamanaka girl. Even with her mouth pinned shut, Ino managed to be fairly loud. So troublesome…

"Chouji, will you hold her in place so I can escape?"

"Ah…" Chouji scratched the back of his head, glancing between his best friend and the girl whose eyes promised death if he complied. "Maybe we should tie her up so we can both escape?" he wondered.

Shikamaru was about to comment that Chouji hadn't done anything to cause Ino to visit her wrath upon him, at least not yet, then saw the look in the girl's eyes. "You have any rope or wire handy?"

Chouji's weapon pouch was currently dedicated to carrying his emergency rations. "Just hold her for another minute. I'll use my scarf to tie her up."

xxxx

"P-please, K-Kiba, tell me about N-N-Naruto?" Hinata stuttered, her face flushed a ruddy pink. The shy Hyuuga girl was waiting for him outside when Iruka turned them loose from detention. He couldn't remember ever having spoken to her in the five years they'd shared a class.

ARF! ARF!

Kiba sighed at Akamaru's antics. The ninja puppy loved to play up his cuteness factor; girls just ate it up. The dog leapt from his head and into Hinata's arms. She caught him easily and petting and gentle cooing commenced immediately. "A-Akamaru, you're such a good boy, aren't you?" One day Akamaru would try to pull this stunt off and he'd run into a cat person, or worse, a Kiri ninja. Word on the street was that Kiri ninja ate dog.

ARF!

Hinata giggled, unconcerned with the dog enthusiastically licking her face. Akamaru continued his well practiced routine for another minute before the girl collected herself and once again asked about Naruto.

He wouldn't have expected the Hyuuga girl to have a thing for Naruto, especially considering how long Naruto had been out of the class. The blond was his buddy, though, so he could at least put in a good word for him. One less girl getting their panties in a bunch over Sasuke at every turn would be nice, too.

xxxx

A/N: Look for Team Nine's first mission outside the village next chapter!

This chapter mainly served to begin introducing Naruto's ninja status to the rest of his age group and to get the Kyuubi issue out in the open for his team. I'm also trying to lay a foundation for a friendship or cordial working relationship between Neji and the team.

Just another gentle reminder that this story will not have a pairing for a long time, if ever. Lots of folks seem really concerned about who I'm going to match Naruto with.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/12/2012


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Thirteen:

xxxx

"Okay, I'm ready, Tenten. Please be gentle with me!" Naruto said, half mockingly, half terrified. Chakra muting coat hanging from a nearby tree branch, just in case the experiment didn't work, the iron-clad boy braced himself for the incoming attack.

"I really don't think this is a good idea, Naruto. Shouldn't we at least wait until Sensei is here?" Tenten questioned. "Or maybe a medic?"

"Sensei knows all about it, Tenten. He's the one who's been helping me develop the seal." As part of the test, Naruto had extended the iron sheathing his arm, manipulating it with his chakra until it formed a thin coating on his entire right hand. His ability to extend the iron to cover more of his body was slowly increasing, with the eventual goal of being able to fully armor himself quickly enough to provide something approaching an absolute defense. For now, though, protecting his hand alone took more than a second, a potential lifetime in a ninja battle. Imprinting a new seal onto the palm of his now armored hand took another long moment; that would also have to improve with practice.

Naruto was fibbing a little. Sensei did know about Naruto's line of research and had indeed helped him develop the experimental seal. The jounin had no clue his student was ready to move past the conceptualization stage. Tenten was a nice girl, though. She wouldn't hurt him too badly if she discovered he'd been less than totally honest about this one small matter. He hoped.

Seeing his teammate growing ever more hesitant, Naruto shouted, "Stop being a scaredy ninja and blast me already!"

"Fine, you idiot," Tenten muttered, "If this cooks your brain, I'm not taking the blame." She sped through a now familiar, if truncated, sequence of hand signs and unnecessarily announced, "Lightning Release: Storm Lance!"

Two months had worked wonders for Tenten's ninjutsu skills. Where before it would take twice as long and cost three times as much chakra just to produce a sad little bolt of lightning perhaps as thick as her pinky finger, the wrist thick beam she unleashed at Naruto was now a technique she'd mastered to such an extent that she'd been able to start tinkering with its peripheral effects. If anyone watching the exchange was expecting a crack of thunder to accompany the lightning technique, they would have been disappointed; it crossed the thirty meters between the genin in silence.

Naruto was as prepared as he could be, his right palm was turned outward, facing Tenten as a convenient target. There was no time to vocally activate his new Hungry Iron seal, not if he wanted to successfully catching a freaking lightning bolt. Just in case, he saturated his body with chakra, flooding iron and muscle till he reached the limit of what would usefully increase his speed and damage resistance. Why couldn't his teammate have a fire affinity? They moved so much slower than most lightning techniques.

The solid beam of electricity, it really didn't resemble a bolt of lightning any longer, some unused portion of Naruto's conscious mind noted, crossed the short distance in an eye-dazzling flash. It was off target by several centimeters, but close enough to the seal's buffer zone that he wouldn't need to adjust. Deliberately forcing oneself to not dodge a potentially deadly attack is not easy. Thankfully, it all happened so fast, the attack disappearing into the seal just as it was supposed to, Naruto didn't have to stand there for long while contemplating his demise. Unfortunately for the boy, Tenten had been playing fast and loose with her favorite lightning technique, and now all the rapidly expanded atmospheric gases that would normally create a crash of thunder in the wake of a lightning bolt, slammed into her target with the roaring fury of a thunderstorm.

Naruto was blasted off his feet and out of his sandals by the unexpected wave of thunderous wind. Startled and momentarily deafened, he was still a skilled enough ninja to right himself in mid-air and land on his feet some six or seven meters from his lost footwear. He shook his head and tried to get the world to stop spinning. "What the hell was that, Tenten?" he shouted, triumph over the success of his seal work forgotten.

The female genin came trotting over to her woozy teammate, his sandals in one hand and a grin plastered across her face. "Did you like that, Naruto? Who needs a wind affinity when you can play with thunder? Not this girl!" She dropped the sandals at Naruto's feet and waved her arms about in a little victory dance.

Quickly giving up on simultaneously standing and getting back into his sandals, and wondering if he might be concussed, Naruto sat down and got to work. "I'm not the only one who's been experimenting, eh?"

"As if I'd just sit around and let you figure out how to counteract all my techniques," Tenten scoffed. "A girl's got to keep up with the times, Naruto."

"That was pretty cool," Naruto agreed as he climbed back to his feet, by now feeling mostly recovered from the surprise attack. "Invisible and with a much larger area of effect than the lightning would suggest; I'm jealous, all my Iron Release stuff is right there for the world to see." Except for the hidden underground techniques you couldn't really use on teammates for fear of reducing them to smears of meat and gore.

Tenten graciously accepted the compliment, pleased that her ninjutsu was being praised instead of her weapon work. People had been telling her for years how accomplished she was with tools. It was a heady feeling to really branch out and prove herself in a whole other area of the ninja arts.

"Your new seal sure seemed to work well," she commented. That had been the original purpose of this encounter to begin with, testing out Naruto's answer to his extreme vulnerability to lightning-natured ninjutsu.

Naruto perked up and nodded. "It did, didn't it? It's still too early to guess how much the Hungry Iron seal can absorb in one shot, but I'm happy it managed that monster you tossed at me. We need to see how your Storm Lance technique does against some of Neji's earthen fortifications." He looked down at his metallic hand and the seal still imprinted in his palm. The recessed lines and sigils now glowed with a soft white light. "We can test its capacity some other time. Stand back and let's see how well it discharges."

Tenten moved a couple meters away, then thought better of it and tripled that distance. This would be Naruto's first attempt manipulating a large amount of lightning chakra. "Maybe you should just dump it into the grou-?"

ZPPPPT-_CRACK_

_So much for that suggestion_, Tenten thought. Warily, she walked over to check on her twitching teammate, on the lookout for another outburst. He was lying in the middle of a patch of charred grass, his clothing half burned away and his hair standing on end. Little crackling electrical discharges played across his iron armor.

"Naruto, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

The boy groaned, making no attempt to move.

"Th-that was not my greatest idea, Tenten," Naruto finally mumbled.

"No really, you think so?" Tenten deadpanned, glaring at the still sparking genin.

"I'm not sure, but I think my spleen hurts."

xxxx

Naruto suspected Sensei and Old Man Hokage had some sort of twisted deal going. It explained how the few D-Rank missions the team went on were all assigned on Mondays by the Hokage himself. He'd thought the Old Man's claims to enjoy the suffering of his genin and the despair they experienced being made to do mundane chores was just a joke, but now he wasn't so sure.

_Here it comes, another stupid D-Rank,_ Naruto thought. _One more and I might snap_. He couldn't imagine how teams with normal instructors did it, going on multiple D-Ranks a week.

"Ebisu and I have discussed the continued progress of Team Nine," the Hokage began, "and we both feel you are ready for an assignment befitting your hard earned skills."

That statement startled Naruto out of his sullen slouch and into a state of near-vibrating excitement. To his right, Tenten's attention sharpened and she leaned forward waiting for the long hoped for words. Neji was already standing poised, his posture impeccable. The only indication he might be interested in the Hokage's follow-up was the slight tightening at the corners of his eyes.

The Hokage reached across his desk and passed Ebisu a genuine wax-sealed mission scroll not at all like the cheap pieces of rolled paper they'd come to associate with D-Ranks. "Ebisu will give you a full briefing. This will be a mid-to-long term C-Rank escort mission, projected to last between four and eight weeks, with pay adjusted according to final duration. The client's caravan is not expected to arrive in the village until sometime tomorrow afternoon. You will depart the following morning."

"You're the best, Old Man!" Naruto exploded, no longer able to contain himself.

The Hokage laughed. "So I've been told from time to time, Naruto."

xxxx

"Our client is a roving merchant representing a newly formed enterprise that seeks to establish ties with several of the larger fishing concerns in southern Fire Country, as well as Tea and Sea Country," Ebisu explained. "Limited as we will be to traveling at an average civilian pace, the minimum of four weeks given by the client may be overly optimistic. Considerations must also be made for weather and any complications that may arise in acquiring passage on an ocean going passenger vessel, as there is no overland route to Sea Country. I would advise you to each pack with a trip of eight to ten weeks in mind, but do not attempt to carry an excessive amount of gear."

That would not be an issue for Naruto, who had taken to carrying nearly everything he owned, except for the clothes on his back, in a series of storage seals hidden within his armor. He would ink out traditional storage scrolls for his teammates. Tenten already had her weapon scroll, but he doubted she would want to keep her other gear in it.

"You will not be expected to cover the expense of room and board if our client wishes to room overnight in an inn or hotel. It is a standard rider in all Konoha contracts that the client will provide accommodations for his escorts. Because of this, unless our client is quite wealthy or unusually free with his ryo, expect and plan to sleep under the stars most nights."

For Naruto, who had never been beyond the village walls, this was starting to sound better and better. Two months or more out of the village! New and strange sights to see, people to meet who had no clue he was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, international ramen to sample! He'd have to hit up Ichiraku's and restock his supply tomorrow.

"Tomorrow will not be an official training day. If you do wish to train, I would ask that you limit yourselves to light exertions. Nothing that could cause an injury," Ebisu said with a pointed look cast in Naruto's direction. You electrocute yourself one time with an experimental seal array and it follows you forever. "We are scheduled to depart from the southern gate at first light the day after tomorrow. Do not be late."

Then Sensei was gone in a Konoha body flicker.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't have much camping gear. Any, really," Naruto said to his teammates.

It turned out that Tenten didn't either, and though Neji could easily requisition the necessary supplies from his clan's armory, he preferred to purchase his own.

"It's not our specialty, but my parents' shop does stock traveling gear with ninja in mind. I can probably even get you guys my only child of the owners discount," Tenten volunteered

"Awesome! I'll take care of storage scrolls for you guys. Lead the way, Tenten!"

xxxx

Higurashi Outfitters was tucked away in a corner of Konoha's predominantly ninja district that Naruto had never gotten around to visiting. It appeared to be one of the oldest surviving neighborhoods in the village not already absorbed into one large clan compound or another, and most of the buildings were ancient but well maintained.

Displays were minimal inside the shop. This was not a place to attract civilians with ryo to burn and nothing better to spend it on than a fancy sword they couldn't wield. Kunai, shuriken, and senbon, along with more obscure ranged weaponry could be purchased by the gross. They had an amazingly good deal going on high grade ninja wire, if you were willing to buy cask-sized spools a kilometer in length. The smell of leather and well-oiled steel permeating the shop was not unpleasant.

"Hey, mom," Tenten greeted a middle-aged woman sitting behind the counter writing something in a large ledger. The girl's mother was pretty, with a round face and big eyes. Her hair style was identical to Tenten's own, but graying at the temples.

"Tenten, dear," the woman smiled at her daughter. Naruto had long ago become accustomed to displays of affection between parents and their children; he could hide his jealousy well these days. "These must be the teammates we've heard so much about. It's absolutely shameful that you haven't brought them by to introduce us sooner." She looked between Neji and Naruto, smiling at both. If she harbored the standard villager prejudice, Naruto could not tell.

Tenten sighed and hung her head a bit. "Sorry, mom." It's not like she could tell her teammates she was scared her parents would treat Naruto badly. Gathering the courage to bring them now had been difficult. They never voiced objections to him being on her team. Then again, she'd never expected the population of her home village to behave so monstrously toward Naruto, either.

"You must be Neji. We do a great deal of business with your clan. Higurashis have been supplying Hyuugas since I was Tenten's age." Neji nodded with a tight, somewhat forced smile. Naruto was beginning to get the impression that Neji didn't particularly care for any mention of the Hyuuga clan, even if the older boy did make reference to them quite often.

"That leaves you, Naruto, and an Uzumaki to boot! I still remember the fit Tenten's father threw when he learned of the destruction of Whirling Tides village. We were Konoha's exclusive supplier of a variety of Uzumaki made sealing products back then."

"Really, ma'am?" Naruto knew of his clan's reputation as seal masters; it was one of the reasons he devoted part of his time to developing his own sealing skills. He'd never put any thought into what the Uzumakis actually did with their seals. They did have to earn their livings somehow, he guessed.

"Oh, please call me Akane, ma'am makes me feel so old," the older woman giggled, much to Tenten's eye rolling displeasure. "Uzumaki seals were recognized for their quality and reliability, Naruto. We could sell them at a premium price and always had a waiting list. They sold out nearly as soon as a shipment arrived."

"Naruto is really good with seals, mom," Tenten added, the bare bones of an idea forming in her mind.

"Is that so? Naruto, dear, if you get your accreditation to produce seals commercially, Higurashi Outfitters would welcome the return of our long time business associate!"

Whoa, that sounded like it could be lucrative. And awesome! "That sounds great, Akane!" The Uzumakis would rise again! Now he just needed to find out exactly what 'accreditation' meant and how he went about getting it.

"Aren't you just the cutest little thing?" Akane enthused happily. Naruto blushed, unused to such treatment from anyone.

This was another reason Tenten never introduced her teammates to her family. Parents were so _embarrassing_! The thought immediately made her feel guilty, since her teammates were both orphans, Neji's large extended family aside.

Before this could get any further out of hand, Tenten sought a return to the original reason they'd visited the shop to begin with. "Mom, we're going on our first C-Rank mission out of the village in a couple days and need camping gear."

Akane Higurashi had encouraged her daughter to pursue her dreams to become a ninja over the objection of the girl's father. She'd prepared herself for this, when her little girl would leave the nest. The news that it was happening so soon caused her formerly rosy cheeks to pale dramatically. "T-that's great, dear! Your very first mission outside of Konoha. That's a big step in the career of a ninja." All three genin could not help but notice the formerly cheery woman no longer appeared very happy, even if she tried to sound normal.

"Yeah, it could last more than two months," Naruto added helpfully. Maybe he hadn't caught on to Akane's distress quite so well as Neji or her daughter.

"Two months!" Akane cried, hands rising to grip her hair buns in a nervous habit Tenten found silly. She couldn't bring herself to care too much upon seeing how upset her mother was becoming. She kicked Naruto's shin and hurried around the counter to comfort the woman.

They didn't leave the shop for the better part of an hour. Neji and Naruto bought all of the gear they thought they needed, at cost, at Akane's insistence, though she did extract a blood oath from both boys to keep her thoroughly mortified daughter safe. There was also a dinner invitation for the night before Team Nine left the village that both boys inherently understood to be mandatory.

xxxx

A/N: Team Nine did get the mission, just like I said, they just haven't left yet.

I can't recall if it is ever mentioned anywhere in canon if Tenten is an orphan/adopted or was raised only by her father, but those seem to be the only options I've ever seen in the Naruto fandom. I already felt dirty enough nabbing the widely used 'Higurashi' for her unmentioned family name and the ubiquitous Tenten!Weaponshop clichés. So in this story Tenten has parents. Annoying ones that embarrass their teenage daughter, just like they're supposed to.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/13/2012


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Fourteen:

xxxx

Sensei was familiar with 'accreditation' and explained it to Naruto as basically gaining an official certification of some sort. He was not fully versed on the process necessary to gain accreditation to sell seals like Tenten's mom mentioned. A quick trip to visit the Old Man netted Naruto something between an instruction manual and a study guide. It was a small book, worn with time and use, detailing the many types of seals one was expected to be capable of producing to become certified. Along with lists and brief descriptions of required seals, there was an in depth treatise on the basic underlying strictures forming the foundation of the sealing arts. You had to know them inside and out, backwards and forwards, to be trusted to craft not only recognized seals, but to create entirely new ones. Bad things tended to happen to foolish dabblers. Self-electrocution barely even rated on the scale of 'bad things' presented in the book.

Naruto had no illusions about his current level of skill or knowledge; he was years away from gaining a certification to create and sell seals. That didn't mean he was barred from creating them for personal use, or the use of his friends. Sensei indicated this was a common issue with ninja unwilling to put the time and effort into becoming a true master of the sealing arts. They learned what was necessary for their purposes or to satisfy their own curiosity and went no further. This was the path Sensei himself had taken, though he was well versed in many of the more esoteric aspects of sealing and quite knowledgeable about useful and trivial seals alike.

"What are you reading over there, Naruto?" Tenten asked. It wasn't unheard of to find her youngest teammate perusing a book or scroll, but it was worthy of some note when he was using the light from his glowing palm to illuminate the pages well enough to read in the poor pre-dawn light.

"A book I got from the Old Man yesterday. That stuff your mom said about selling seals got me interested, so I talked to Sensei about it." He turned to give Tenten a better view of the leather-bound volume, the shining seal on his palm making the Uzumaki spiral engraved on the front cover easily visible. "I've got a long way to go if I want to live up to the Uzumaki name," he concluded.

Neji's arrival at the gate prompted Naruto to seal away his new book and Tenten to re-sheath the short sword she'd been honing to pass the time. The Hyuuga boy, like his female teammate, carried a medium-size storage scroll courtesy of Naruto. On each of their backs was a lightly laden traveling pack with a few easily accessed essentials. Unlike Naruto, who could pull whatever item from storage he wished at will, neither wanted to bother unsealing a canteen or ration bar whenever they grew thirsty or hungry and having a spare change of clothes available in the event they lost their scroll was just common sense. In addition to their scrolls, Naruto altered as many of his teammates' kunai and shuriken as they wished to give each weapon the destructive potential of an explosive tag. Neji chose the path of moderation, allowing Naruto to modify an even dozen of each. Tenten, not really believing in the concept of overkill, was unsatisfied until every projectile she owned was upgraded into an explosive.

"You see Sensei around anywhere, Neji?" Naruto asked. Their jounin leader was already gone from the house when Naruto reluctantly dragged himself out of bed even earlier than he was accustomed to.

As he often did lately, Neji activated his byakugan through sheer force of will. It still took him several seconds, but the practice was paying off and he'd nearly halved the required time in the past month. This early in the morning, even Konoha's normally bustling streets were mostly deserted, allowing the Hyuuga's eyes to locate the familiar chakra-image of their Sensei as well as a small handful of other presences. "He appears to be slightly less than a kilometer away. I believe he is escorting the client now."

"I think we should keep score!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed after a few minutes of comfortable silence, much to his teams' confusion.

"Ya wanna keep it down a bit, kid?" growled one of the chuunin in the nearby guardhouse. As early as Team Nine arrived at the southern gate, they were preceded by the poor souls assigned to third shift guard duty.

In a near whisper, hoping to avoid upsetting the grouchy chuunin, Tenten asked, "What are you talking about, Naruto?"

Neji just looked at him. His stare spoke volumes.

Naruto sighed. It was hard being a font of pure awesome around normal people sometimes. "This is a really long mission and we're gonna be going all over the place. New countries and even the ocean! The client wouldn't hire ninja if he wasn't worried about stuff like bandits and pirates. I figure we might run across a lot of them. So we should keep score of who kills the most. Pirates should count for double! The winner wou-"

_CHING_

The kunai now embedded in the stone wall nine or ten centimeters to the right of Naruto's head silenced him quickly. Neji dropped into a ready stance, byakugan flaring reflexively. Tenten's short sword was half drawn as she surveyed the area for threats.

"You didn't hear me the first time, brat? My shift is almost over and I don't want to listen to your yapping." Now the chuunin guard had Team Nine's full attention. Late twenties, black hair, with a burn scar twisting one side of his face into a perpetual sneer now directed towards Naruto. If the look didn't broadcast habitual asshole, not much else did.

Naruto wrenched the kunai from the wall, pushed chakra into it, and then flipped it back to its owner. _Iron Release: False Life Imitation!_

Tenten was about to make a comment, but Neji interrupted her with a raised hand and a gesture pointing back toward the street. Sensei was in sight, leading a donkey-drawn wagon.

"Sorry for making a scene, you guys," Naruto quietly apologized to his teammates. Once they were out of the village, then he'd make a scene, or at least whatever he turned that kunai into would. Heh.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto. That guy is an asshole."

"A chuunin gate guard at such an age; mediocrity is his fate." Neji occasionally said stuff like that. Sometimes it was hard to get the gist of his ramblings or even tell whether they were positive or negative in nature. The meaning was fairly clear this time.

"Good one, Neji," Naruto laughed. "By the time we get that old, we're gonna be world freaking famous! Not stuck as _mediocre_ gate guards." Naruto didn't notice the heated glare his team was receiving from the chuunin, distracted as he now was by visions of himself being crowned Hokage.

xxxx

Six hours into his first great adventure and Naruto was bored. The iron clone he'd created to pester the chuunin on gate duty was long gone, dispelled once the distance grew too great to maintain a proper chakra link. The road they were traveling saw a great deal of use and a corresponding number of patrols kept it mostly clear of bandits and other unsavory individuals. Sensei didn't even believe it was necessary to maintain guard positions around their client's wagon.

The wagon Naruto walked beside was interesting. It did not appear to carry any goods, Sensei said the client wasn't that kind of merchant, and was instead outfitted like a tiny house on wheels. Its peaked roof was shingled, there were windows on both sides and the back, each with curtains on the inside and shutters outside. Three large barrels of fresh water were strapped to the rear of the wagon and there was no telling what kind of food was stored within. If there had been any hope for spending much time at roadside inns during the mission, that was now lost. Naruto did wonder how the client intended to get the wagon across the ocean to Sea Country. Were there even boats large enough to carry such a wagon?

Sensei appeared content to discuss fish migration patterns with their client, who sat on a high cushioned bench in the front of his wagon, leading his donkeys by the long leather reins connected to their harnesses. The man looked to be around Sensei's age, give or take a couple years, but where the jounin was tall and lean, the client was short and pudgy. He had an oddly protruding mustache that bobbed up and down when he talked. So far he'd treated the genin of Team Nine in a respectful manner, not looking down on them for being young, not that Naruto had noticed anyway.

"This is going to be a long, long trip, Tenten," Naruto lamented as he adjusted his stride to match hers. Those donkeys might have the stamina to pull an elaborate wagon-house thing all day long, but their speed left something to be desired.

Tenten sighed and nodded. "We might as well make the most of it. There won't be much time to do any serious training on the road." She held up her right hand so Naruto could see the spark of lightning-natured chakra arcing feebly between her thumb and index finger. "This is a good chance to work on my elemental chakra conversion."

Walking down the road on tentative guard duty wasn't the best time to get back to his new book. "You're right. I've just gotta figure out something to do to keep myself busy."

That was easier said than done. He leapt over the wagon to pester Neji, but found the boy splitting his attention between practicing with his byakugan and working on some freaky new variation of the earth passage and tree climbing exercises that allowed him to slide along the ground as if he were ice skating. That was cool. He'd have to get the Hyuuga to tell him out it worked later.

Eventually Naruto settled on working with his iron rod. Tenten loved and hated the weapon. It was highly versatile and had the potential to be incredibly deadly, more so than any weapon she'd ever held, but wouldn't respond to her attempts to manipulate it, no matter how often Naruto let her play with it. He'd once discovered her threatening its life.

"How far can you reach with it now?" Tenten asked, eyeing the iron rod turned whip jealously. The Old Man had a storage scroll full of the chakra conductive iron his rod was composed of and according to Sensei a lot of it was being saved for Naruto's use. Maybe he could get some of it and have a weapon made for Tenten when the mission was completed?

Naruto shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Pretty far, I guess." When he practiced with it in their designated training ground, there was only so much open space and he'd never felt the urge to see just what its limits were.

"Well?"

"Huh?"

"That was me trying to hint to you to give it a shot, Naruto."

"Oh, haha, yeah, I knew that!" Naruto insisted, grinning at an incredulous Tenten.

The iron whip retracted so quickly into its base form that Naruto's wrist nearly buckled. He slowed, and then stopped, taking in the empty road as the wagon slowly rolled away. It was a wide stretch of compacted earth, abutted by about ten meters of grass and shrubbery that gave way to a dense forest. The road was straight for over four hundred meters before curving gently out of sight. With no one nearby and so much open space available, finding a better place to test the maximum range of the rod, or his control over it, would be difficult.

Tenten was standing well back from her teammate, remembering the results of his last experiment. She watched Naruto plant his feet and felt a tingle from her rudimentary chakra senses as he rooted himself more firmly to the ground. Naruto swung the rod and chakra flared. Despite having her full attention focused on the weapon in Naruto's hand, it still blurred out of sight for a moment, lengthening with impossible speed and narrowing to a nearly invisible wire-like strand. And then as fast as it extended, the iron was retracted, the force of its return so great Naruto nearly dropped the reconstituted rod with a pained yelp. Nothing seemed to happen for a long moment, but then every tree along the right side of the road, from perhaps thirty meters away to just short of the far off curve, and at least another thirty or forty meters back from what used to be the tree line, fell over with a crash of thunder every bit as loud as her most powerful lightning technique.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit," Tenten mumbled, her eyes wide and glassy, realizing she should have stood much further away. Convincing Naruto to cut loose might have been a bad idea as well.

"That…Was…Fucking…Awesome!" Naruto shouted, totally unprepared for the carnage he just visited upon the unsuspecting woodland. He took a long look at the iron rod in his hand before gazing back out at the hundreds or thousands of trees felled with a single halfhearted swing of his arm.

_I am a beast!_, he thought with a savage grin. Later, when he was less impressed by his own badassery, he would begin to wonder why everything to the _right_ of the road had been hit when he'd been aiming for the left, and how come the rod didn't just lengthen and stab through the trees as he'd intended.

xxxx

Ebisu had listened to his students, only a portion of his attention remaining on the conversation he was holding with the client. It was good that each genin was finding constructive ways to occupy their minds. Later, as they moved further from Konoha and deeper into the wilds of Fire Country, then into foreign nations, there would be a need for greater vigilance. He nodded to himself, pleased that Tenten convinced Naruto to test the extent of his control over the chakra conductive iron rod he carried.

The client was in no hurry, allowing the donkeys pulling his somewhat gaudy traveling wagon to set the pace, so when the earth shook and thunder crashed, they were less than twenty meters from Naruto and Tenten's position. The animals froze, startled by the noise, bringing the wagon to a sudden halt.

"Neji, stay with Mr. Iwana," Ebisu ordered. He rushed around the wagon and was confronted by the sight of many acres of destroyed forest. Trees were toppled every which way, with some head high stumps jutting up through the foliage. It looked like a tornado had touched down or a monstrously powerful wind ninjutsu unleashed in the area. If anyone owned the deforested land so far from any settlements, it would probably be the Daimyo. Ebisu made a mental note to speak with Load Hokage on the matter, in the event reparations were demanded.

Naruto was doing cart wheels and back flips as Ebisu approached.

xxxx

Though Naruto understood Sensei's orders to no longer experiment so freely with the iron rod, not until he could find a more isolated locale, preferably when the team was not on a mission, he was not happy. He really wanted to get the hang of that attack.

"You are a remarkable young ninja," the client, Mr. Iwana, said in his high pitched voice. The youngest member of Team Nine also wasn't all that happy his lunch break was being shortened because he had been volunteered by Sensei to help the client water his donkeys at a small roadside creek.

Unsolicited praise pulled a grin from him. "Thanks, Mister!"

"You must wield a fearsome weapon to create such a mess as the one we left behind us."

Naruto retrieved the rod from storage so the client could see. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. I can do lots of stuff with it, but the last one was crazy! I've never made it do anything like that before!" Unable to resist showing off just a little, Naruto twirled the rod, changing its shape as he did so. It cycled through to the form of a staff, then a katana, and was followed by an uncoiled whip, before reverting back into an unassuming rod.

"You live up to the reputation your village, my young friend. You most certainly do."

xxxx

A/N: Now their mission has begun. Time won't be leaping forward much over the next several chapters, but Team Nine's travels won't be noted in excruciating detail, either.

Naruto won't be scything through any more forests or trying that attack on ninja, friends or foes, for a long time. Even though he's mighty impressed with himself, he's not going to start whipping around uncontrollable lines of chakra-infused razor wire for the hell of it. I've been waiting to write that little scene for a while now, though.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/14/2012


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Fifteen:

xxxx

After taking a long look at the afternoon cloud cover, Sensei predicted rain before the night was over.

Each member of Team Nine carried a small, easily pitched one-man tent for use when inclement weather made sleeping without some shelter undesirable. Tenten's mother practically forced the tents on them. Naruto was actually looking forward to using his. After all, it would hardly be a wilderness adventure without sleeping in a tent once or twice.

The small stone cottage formed by Neji's earth ninjutsu was starting to make those tents look kind of useless. "If you could do that, why in hell didn't you tell us before we all bought brand new tents?" Naruto whined. Now that his teammate had set an example, his mind was awhirl. _ I bet I could do that, too_, the boy thought.

Too bad Neji came up with it first.

Metal would form a more durable and secure shelter, for sure, but it would also become an oven under even weak sunlight. Fixed stone constructs didn't need a constant chakra feed to maintain, either. Still, there were possibilities that bore further consideration.

"Fate will not always provide favorable materials or conditions for my techniques, Naruto. It is better to have alternative lodgings, and not need them, rather than need them and not have them," Neji noted, smirking when Naruto couldn't help but give a frustrated nod of agreement. "As I refine the technique, those considerations will, however, become of less concern."

Naruto hadn't even tried to mimic Neji's creation yet and he was beginning to mentally refine the technique. Why stop with a cottage when you could create an underground bunker or raise a fortress?

Tenten emerged from the uncovered doorway of the cottage a few moments later. "I appreciate you adding a room just for me, Neji, but I don't need special treatment because I'm a girl."

If Naruto hadn't been watching Neji's face, he definitely would have missed the annoyed twitch of the Hyuuga's left eye. Oh, this was too good. "Haha, Tenten, I don't think you're supposed to get your own room. I bet it's for our dear-"

"Sensei," Neji interjected with uncommon haste.

"Yeah, for Sensei," confirmed Naruto, grinning at Neji's quick save.

"Ah, that makes sense." Tenten looked between the two boys, unable to shake the sense that she was missing something. "That thing is really solid, Neji," she commented. Her cursory inspection had revealed walls exceeding twenty centimeters in thickness and it was all one solid piece of stone, without any detectable seems or joints.

"It is a simplified variation of an Iwa construction technique I discovered in the Konoha library." With Sensei's limited selection of earth ninjutsu techniques, it made sense the Hyuuga would seek outside sources to expand his own repertoire. The village of Iwa was known for its many powerfully earth-natured ninja and the creative ways they were used, in battle and out. To the victor go the spoils, it is said, and Konoha's decisive victory over Iwa in the previous ninja war didn't just result in greater material wealth and political power. Konoha's ninja library currently housed the second most extensive earth ninjutsu archive in the Elemental Nations, courtesy of looted Iwa corpses and raided armories. It really was too bad there were so few ninja in Konoha with an earth affinity strong enough to make practical use of much of that knowledge.

Sensei's return from speaking with the client a short distance away stifled the conversation. Mr. Iwana's wagon was already buttoned up for the night, windows shuttered and draft animals tethered nearby.

"Have you three decided who will be on night watch this evening?" asked the jounin. They would be covering overnight guard duty in three shifts, with Sensei taking the least desired second watch. That left a genin covering first and third shift, with one of the team able to sleep uninterrupted throughout the night. Sensei planned to give them a week's grace period before the second shift also became their responsibility.

Neji's unexpected contribution to their overnight lodgings had sidetracked the teams' earlier discussion of who was stuck with which shift.

"Age before awesome?" Naruto suggested, tearing a giggling snort from Tenten. The girl covered her mouth and blushed.

"I will take third shift, Sensei," Neji volunteered, guaranteeing himself the next night off the watch schedule.

Tenten and Naruto eyed one another. "Rock-paper-scissors?" she asked

It would be many months before Tenten came to understand that you never gambled against Uzumaki Naruto. He didn't cheat, the freaking universe did it for him.

"Woohoo! Snip snip!" Naruto cheered, waving his mock finger scissors about a few seconds later.

"That decides the watch rotation for the coming week, students. Tonight Tenten will cover first shift and Neji the third, tomorrow Naruto has first and Tenten third, and so forth."

xxxx

Standing over a pair of corpses, six days later, Naruto really wished he'd volunteered for third shift that first night on the road. Barely a week into the mission and Neji was already two points ahead of him and Tenten. "Nothing looks broken and I can't find any blood. How'd you off'em, Neji?" the young blond asked.

"This trash did not detect my presence," explained Neji, sneering down at his victims. "I caught them unaware as they debated killing the client or taking him captive for ransom. A jyuken strike to their brains was instantly fatal."

"Whoa, that's cool." _Scary, too_. As Naruto knew, a skilled jyuken user was crazy deadly up close. At full chakra-enhanced speed it was all he could do just to defend against a concerted attack from Neji, and no one else had the unique advantage of being immune to most jyuken strikes.

Sensei rolled both bandits over and began rifling through their pockets. They were relatively well dressed, their clean black linen trousers and tunics not at all like the shabby highwaymen Naruto would have expected. "You did well, Neji, though in the future I would advise leaving at least one available for interrogation." The jounin gathered a handful of ryo coins, two knives, a lead weighted sap, and a wire garrote from the corpses. "With so few possessions, they likely had a camp or dwelling nearby."

"Should we check out the area to see if there are other bandits?" Tenten asked.

"If our mission was to patrol the road we would perform a thorough search. Our responsibility is to maintain the safety of Mr. Iwana."

Naruto didn't like the idea of leaving bandits to prey on unsuspecting travelers, but Sensei was correct. They had a mission of their own to complete. "Come on, you guys. Let's get rid of the bodies. I want to grab some breakfast before we get back on the road."

In short order, the genin had dragged the corpses away from the client's wagon and into the heavy brush at the tree line. "I don't think we've got a fire technique between the three of us," Tenten commented. "and I don't feel like starting my day digging graves. Neji, you killed them, you should get rid of them."

"We've really gotta teach you earth passage sometime, Tenten," teased Naruto as he knelt between the two corpses. He rested a palm on each bandit's back and began to mold chakra, first coating his arms in a fine layer of energy then slowly extending it to envelope the corpses. There was an unexpected resistance, far more than when he used this method to demonstrate earth passage to Neji, before the chakra was finally distributed properly. Once that was accomplished, the burial was no more difficult than taking a dip in a pond. Naruto submerged fully beneath the surface, leaving his cargo behind when he returned.

"See, it's easy."

Tenten crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Naruto. "You know my lightning affinity makes that exercise hard for me, Naruto." According to Sensei, Tenten's lightning affinity ran deeper than most. While she was not barred from using earth-natured techniques, the girl would never be able to learn them without considerable study and the chakra expenditure would be many times greater than what a normal ninja would experience. This even extended to non-elemental chakra manipulation that affected the earth. " I don't pick at you because you can't swim."

"I could totally swim if I didn't weigh so much!" the metal-infused boy exclaimed. "Besides, swimming became obsolete once I learned to walk on water." Most ninja who carried a re-breather did so to mitigate the danger of gaseous poisons or to compliment their extensive use of water ninjutsu. Naruto kept two in storage because he sank like a stone.

xxxx

Mr. Iwana was actually urging his donkeys to pull the wagon at something more than an arthritic octogenarian's walking pace, though the progress was still painfully slow for the genin of Team Nine. The day had started with such promise and a little excitement, even if Neji was able to take an early lead in the kill tally.

"We stopped early yesterday in order to have most of today to navigate the only pass through the Shattered Steel Mountains suitable for Mr. Iwana's wagon. The path is relatively well traveled and simple enough, but there will be no safe area to make camp."

Despite being able to see mountains every day from within the walls of Konoha, none of the genin had actually ever visited any. Even if nothing exciting happened and it proved to be just another boring day on their first C-Rank mission, the novelty factor alone would break up the monotony.

Sensei continued to explain the dangers of traveling through the mountains. Rock falls and slides, treacherous footing, and giant saber-toothed mountain lions were all covered in some detail.

"Yes, Naruto, the pelt of the saber-toothed mountain lion is quite rare and valuable," Sensei answered, then followed up with another answer, this time to an as of yet unasked question. "No, Naruto, we will not be hunting any saber-toothed mountain lions."

"I just thought the Old Man might like one for his birthday," Naruto muttered. Seriously, what did you get for someone so old? If you lived that long, chances were at some point you'd gotten just about every gift you could need or want.

Tenten laughed and said, "Naruto, just remember, if one of them does attack us, don't blow it up." Never mind that nearly every one of her weapons was now a lethal explosive.

Nearly an hour later the group was already on their third switchback and the surrounding trees were slowly thinning out. Naruto turned his attention to Neji, who had been quieter than normal, noting the Hyuuga had his byakugan active. Nearly three hundred and sixty degree vision made it difficult to guess what exactly he was focused on.

"Killing those bandits isn't bothering you, right?"

Neji barked out a sharp, almost startled laugh. It was so uncharacteristic of the Hyuuga prodigy that Tenten stared at him in wonder and even Sensei seemed surprised. "The scum was fated to die by my hand. The thought of being disturbed over such a menial task is…amusing."

Relieved that all was still right with the world, Naruto nodded. "That's cool, man. So what's got you so distracted?"

"I am not distracted," Neji insisted. "I am intrigued. It appears as if this mountain, perhaps the entire range, is artificial."

Joining the conversation, Tenten asked, "Artificial? You mean you think someone _made _them?"

Neji shook his head, bulging byakugan eyes conveying no appreciable emotion. "I can think of no other explanation for what I am seeing. There are ruins, twisted pieces of structures, and innumerable objects I cannot identify, folded deep into the root of this mountain and those adjacent to it, out to the limit of my byakugan's range."

xxxx

"You are not the first Hyuuga to make that observation, Neji, nor are you likely to be the last," said Ebisu to his student. The Shattered Steel Mountains were not named at random. "Prospectors working deep in the mountain valleys sometimes unearth beams of twisted and broken steel untouched by a speck of corrosion, diamond hard panes of glass, and other inexplicable materials. I've heard rumors of wealthy collectors spending vast fortunes to acquire especially unusual artifacts pulled from the depths."

"So there used to be a city here and someone grew a mountain on top of it?" Naruto asked.

"That is a distinct possibility. Men and women more learned than I have debated these mountains and what they imply for centuries, Naruto. General consensus is that the ruins beneath the Shattered Steel Mountains and other sites found throughout the Elemental Nations and beyond are the remnants of a civilization preceding our own by more than a thousand of years." There were many technologies in use in the Elemental Nations that owed their existence to scavengers picking the bones of that long forgotten time. More often than not, even when a device had been copied and used for decades or longer, the underlying principles that governed its function went unknown.

"Damn, that's insane. How strong do you have to be to raise mountains that can swallow cities?"

"The Kyuubi might be able to do that," Tenten answered. "Maybe some of the other Tailed Beasts, too."

"The Tailed Beasts do no predate the use of chakra, which originated with the Sage of the Six Paths approximately six centuries ago," Ebisu countered. "Many of the ruins I've spoken of are noted in writings going back much further than that."

"How the hell do you make a freaking mountain without chakra or even one of the Tailed Beasts?"

"I believe that would be one of the issues confounding the scholars, Naruto," Neji said, allowing his byakugan to go dormant. "I will consult the Hyuuga archives when we return to Konoha."

Noting his team's genuine curiosity, Ebisu added, "You may wish to speak with Uchiha Sasuke as well. Prior to the founding of Konoha, the Uchiha clan maintained a base of operations in the remains of an ancient city believed to belong to the same civilization buried beneath these mountains."

xxxx

Naruto managed to contain his latest idea for all of another fifteen minutes before saying, "Neji, between the two of us, I bet we could get deep enough into the mountain to bring back something cool. We might even get lucky and find an old piece of junk some rich guy would want to buy."

Sensei didn't wait to hear Neji's response. "Don't even think about it, Naruto. Remember the client is our priority." The two genin, each with their own special talents, could very well enact Naruto's flight of fancy.

"And on the return trip, Sensei?" Incredibly, it was Neji and not Naruto who asked.

Mr. Iwana's contract with Konoha did not extend beyond providing protection during the last leg of his journey to Sea Country.

"We will revisit the issue then."

xxxx

A/N: Children they may be, but I won't be writing about ninjas who are emotionally devastated by the act of killing. It's a way of life they've been trained for half their lives. I used part of this chapter to address my own curiosity about the many anachronisms in the Naruto-verse. The blend of outdated and modern technology and practices, along with obvious signs of an older, more advanced society are tantalizing to my appreciation for Post-Apocalyptic settings. I have my pet theories that'll probably end up being incorporated into the story.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/15/2012


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

xxxx

Chapter Sixteen:

xxxx

"I can see why Sensei says it's not safe to camp up here," Tenten said, accompanied by Naruto's long whistle.

The group had left the tree line behind hours earlier. Though the low altitude and moderate climate would have supported evergreens much higher up the mountain, the lack of soil limited vegetation to scraggly looking vines and brush with roots able to pry their way into the more inviting cracks and crevices. The harsh, jagged mountainside was by far the most inhospitable locale the genin of Team Nine had encountered to date. Beyond the few brittle looking plants they passed, there was no animal life and if there were insects, they hid themselves well. The roadbed the group traveled upon was sturdy and the gentle gradient, thanks to the frequent switchbacks carved into the mountain through the efforts of many earth ninjutsu wielding ninja and civilian laborers, made what would otherwise be a difficult and dangerous hike for a lone ninja an easy, if long trip for the client and his wagon. Mr. Iwana was familiar with this route and drove his wagon and draft animals with competent surety.

The road ahead, the longest single stretch they'd used since beginning the trek over the mountain and the last before reaching the point of descent, was blocked by a daunting amount of fallen rock. Boulders ranging from fist-sized nuisances to one larger than the Hokage Tower, rendered the pass impossible for the wagon to navigate.

"This is a significant rock fall, students. Be wary, the mountain above may yet be unstable," Sensei warned.

"This pass is the only route across the isthmus," bemoaned Mr. Iwana with a frown, the donkeys' reins clutched tightly in his white knuckled fists. "The only port with vessels large enough to transport my belongings is at least a week's travel from here." An unpalatable proposition; days of travel would be wasted and then hiring a ship to make the long and perilous sea journey around the northern horn of the peninsula and through the dangerous currents and pirate infested waters surrounding the islands of Water Country, would be ruinous for the merchant's finances.

"Let us first determine if we have any alternatives before taking such drastic action, Mr. Iwana." To the genin, who he led out of range for eavesdropping by the client, Sensei said, "Team Nine has the skills necessary to remove this obstacle, but the effort would be both dangerous and far outside the scope of the contracted mission. If you all agree to attempting to clear the road, upon our return to Konoha I will recommend most strongly to Hokage-sama that your efforts deserve B-Rank mission status. Beyond responsibility to the client, you will be performing a service vital to Fire Country as a whole. As Mr. Iwana said, with this pass blocked, overland travel to an entire region of the country is impossible."

Naruto didn't spend any time thinking about the risks or the rewards. If Sensei thought he could do it, then he damned well could do it. "Hell yeah, count me in!"

Tenten and Neji followed Naruto's example only moments later, if with less obvious enthusiasm. For such new genin with only a double handful of D-Rank missions under their belts, successful B- and C-Rank missions in their dossiers would be remarkable. The additional pay would also be nice.

"Very well," Sensei gave them all a pleased nod. "Unfortunately, none of us would qualify as a demolitions engineer. We will not be using explosive tags or their equivalent," that was said with a pointed look directed at both Tenten and Naruto. "No lightning ninjutsu, either." Tenten deflated, slumping her shoulders and glaring accusingly at Sensei. That effectively moved her into the category of manual laborer.

"Neji, begin surveying the area, especially the rock wall above us. Search for any signs of further collapse. I will return after removing Mr. Iwana to a safe distance."

"I don't think I'm going to be much help, guys," said Tenten morosely. She kicked a bit of loose gravel hard enough to send it careening over the edge of the precipice the road was built on. Maybe it was time to start working on picking up a few water ninjutsu. They were versatile and would complement her lightning techniques quite well.

Naruto shrugged. "Don't worry about it, Tenten. This just isn't a good place to show your stuff."

Byakugan active, Neji nodded in agreement without turning to face his teammates. "Fate placed this obstacle before Team Nine, Tenten. As a member of Team Nine, it is as much your fate as it is ours to triumph or fail before this test." Naruto thought the Hyuuga's word were meant to be encouraging, but wasn't quite sure. He really needed to sit down with Neji sometime and get the older boy to explain this fate business.

"So, how does it look up there, Neji? Any more rocks waiting to crush us?" asked Naruto, peering up the nearly sheer slope. A ninja could scale the rough slope, with or without chakra, if they didn't mind the risk of the mountainside giving way and crushing them under tons of falling rock.

"Though the byakugan is not well suited to the task, I cannot see any obvious areas that appear dangerous in the short term."

"I wonder if transforming the big boulders into iron will cause any problems," Naruto mused. "It would make clearing the road pretty easy if I could." He wouldn't need to do anything beyond initiate the transformation then let it end. As with all materials he altered, once the chakra was withdrawn or expended, they would disintegrate into dust. That would be a lot of dust, though. Hmm.

"I wouldn't recommend that course of action, Naruto." The boy jumped, startled by Sensei's presence. "Though temporary, the greatly increased weight could risk collapsing this section of the mountainside."

"What if…"

xxxx

Tenten stood well back from the area where the rest of her team worked, watching intently over Naruto's insensate form. Lying in the middle of the road, the young blond appeared dead to the world. She might not be able to do much to remove the boulders, but she could watch over Naruto. Now deep in a trance-like state, he didn't respond to her attempts to communicate with him.

It had been amazing to watch a boulder nearly as large as the wagon melt away beneath Naruto's hands. As the boulder's mass decreased, iron duplicates of her teammate sprouted up around the boy until what remained of the once massive rock was hardly larger than her head. "I don't think I can manage any more than that," he said with a grimace, eyes clenched tightly closed. It was only with her assistance that Naruto was able to make it halfway down the road to where Mr. Iwana waited with the wagon. All of his attention was focused on directing what looked to be at least thirty clones.

Under the blonde's guidance, his clones hauled away all but the largest of boulders, applying their superhuman strength in concert to roll or toss them over the side of the mountain.

Using an earth ninjutsu Tenten had never seen before, Neji and Sensei carefully removed rocky monoliths too large for even Naruto's small army of clones to budge. The technique they were using reminded her of a candle, its wax slowly melting away over the course of hours. In this case, however, the massive boulders would rapidly melt away into mud, much faster than any candle. Instead of remaining on the roadbed, the mud then flowed over the edge of the cliff. Tenten had crept over to the edge and spent a few moments watching the muddy stream. At some point around a hundred meters or so from the earth-using duo, the mud would revert to solid rock and tumble the rest of the way down the mountainside.

Nearly an hour passed in this manner. Naruto was fully conscious now, sitting beside her and eating a steaming bowl of miso ramen he'd removed from one of his storage seals. The clones had been allowed to dispel into puffs of sparkling dust once there task was complete. "Ugh, my head hurts so freaking bad, Tenten. Not even ramen is helping."

"I don't think ramen works like that, Naruto."

"Blasphemy," Naruto cried with a chuckle. Then he closed his eyes and muttered, "Oh, I don't wanna laugh. That only makes it hurt worse."

"How come using your clones affects you so much? I don't think Neji's earth clones do that to him."

"Probably because Neji uses an actual clone technique, I guess. He can make as many as he wants until his chakra runs out. Mine are just a different application of my False Life Imitation technique. When I animate something like a clone, there's sorta like this pressure on my brain, if that makes any sense. It's not bad as long as I don't make too many or just don't' split my focus between them all. Controlling thirty four clones simultaneously was probably pushing my limits a little too far," Naruto admitted. "I'm getting better at it, though. This time last year, twenty would have knocked me on my ass and into dreamland."

"You should think about learning a different technique. Even if your iron clones are better than other types, you might not be able to afford the distraction of using them one day, Naruto."

He nodded, loudly slurping the remaining broth from the bottom of his ramen bowl. Emptied, it disappeared back into a seal. "When we get back home, I promise to learn a new clone technique if you will, too."

"Deal." If there were lightning clones, Tenten had yet to discover them in her research.

Movement down the road caught the two genins' attention. Neji and Sensei were heading their way. The Hyuuga looked wiped out, his face flushed and his hair and clothing sweat-soaked. His footing looked none too steady, either. The jounin also had an air of exhaustion about him, though he retained his standard composure. Behind them, the final, largest boulder that alone had blocked the road still remained. It was much reduced from its former size, however, leaving more than enough space for the wagon to pass.

"Good work, Neji, Naruto. Thank you, Tenten, for looking after Naruto while he was incapacitated." Sensei took a long swallow from his canteen and passed it to Neji. "The remaining obstruction can be removed on our return trip. Neji's chakra is nearly depleted and mine is also precipitously low. This occasion does not warrant the use of a soldier pill."

While she did not mind looking after her teammate, Tenten hoped the next time something happened she wouldn't be stuck on the sidelines.

xxxx

Descending the mountain went far more quickly than the ascent. The slope was gentler and there were fewer switchbacks zigzagging across the mountainside. Given the nearly two hour delay caused by the blocked roadway, they still only just managed to get to level ground and to an area Sensei deemed safe enough to make camp before the sun dipped below the horizon.

With Neji's chakra still too low to waste on trivial expenditures, Naruto would finally get to sleep in a tent. When he pointed this out, Tenten burst his balloon by countering that he could have spent any night he wanted in his tent. No one forced him to sleep in Neji's stone cottages.

"I believe we should reach the fishing village of Chibu tomorrow afternoon," said Mr. Iwana. He was, along with Team Nine, sitting around a small camp fire. Everyone was enjoying a celebratory bowl of ramen, courtesy of Naruto's prodigious stockpile. The boy didn't share his ramen with strangers lightly, but he was happy enough he didn't mind. Team Nine had overcome their first major obstacle, literally and figuratively, today. It would only be the first of many, he was sure.

"Will you need a guard while conducting your business in town?" Sensei asked.

"I wouldn't turn down an escort, but during actual negotiations I believe the presence of a ninja might make my potential associates uncomfortable."

Sensei nodded. "As you wish, Mr. Iwana."

A few minutes later, after once more thanking the team for their efforts, the fat little merchant excused himself and was ensconced in his wagon for the evening.

"Neji, I will cover your guard shift this evening. An uninterrupted night of sleep will go a long way towards restoring your chakra."

"Thank you, Sensei."

xxxx

The following day and every one after for the next week fell into a pattern. Starting with Chibu, Team Nine escorted their client down the western coast of Fire Country's southern peninsula, stopping at a mid- to large-sized fishing village every day. Most inhabitants of these isolated villages had never seen a ninja before and were wary at best and terrified at worst. Within an hour of arriving in Chibu, the village appeared deserted. By Saturday, their fourth day after crossing the mountain, as Mr. Iwana was entering Heizu, Team Nine remained concealed in the forest beyond the outskirts of the village. The client believed it to be an acceptable risk given the frosty reception he'd received in previous villages.

"This whole area is pretty far off the beaten path as far as ninja politics goes," Naruto said, answering Tenten's frustrated question about the reactions of the civilians they continued to encounter. No one could ever claim Sensei had been anything less than thorough in his education of the young blond boy, at least in matters pertaining to his career as a ninja. "It's so remote that most people won't make a trip to Konoha to hire us. Tea Country is close, but doesn't even have a ninja village."

"You are correct, Naruto. There is also the expense involved. A C-Rank mission is beyond the means of the average fisherman or farmer. The villages on the eastern coast of the peninsula have been known to combine their resources to hire Konoha teams to combat the more tenacious pirate outfits operating out of the Sea of Mists."

"That makes senses," admitted Tenten. "I still don't see why the children in the last village thought Neji was going to steal their blood."

xxxx

The spine of largely impassable mountains splitting the eastern and western coasts of Fire Country's southern peninsula gradually tapered to low foothills as Team Nine and their client approached the northern border of Tea Country. Traveling through the hilly terrain was slow and tedious, but after two days without stopping in a village, a welcome relief to the genin, they arrived on the eastern coast of the peninsula and soon the border crossing itself was in sight.

"Have your identification cards and travel papers out and ready to present to the samurai manning the border station. Do not cause a scene." Naruto was almost certain that last warning was solely for his benefit.

There was a short wait at the border station, three wagons and a cart all had to be inspected and cleared by the guards before Mr. Iwana's place in the queue came up.

At Sensei's direction, Team Nine was separated from their client by an elderly man with a dilapidated wagon full of vegetables and a younger man with a cart carrying what appeared to be bags of salt.

The distance was too great and the ambient noise too distracting for any of the genin to clearly understand the conversation being held between Mr. Iwana and the samurai inspecting his wagon. The handful of ryo bills their client slipped to the Tea Country border guard was impossible to miss.

"Did he just bribe that guard?" Naruto whispered in a shocked voice.

"It is a common, if vulgar practice," answered Sensei with a frown. "The samurai can see that Mr. Iwana is obviously not poor and is carrying no goods to trade or sell. It is a fair indicator that he can extort a small sum of money from him without consequence."

The genin all looked outraged. "Shouldn't we stop Mr. Iwana from being forced to pay some corrupt asshole samurai?" Naruto hissed.

Sensei shook his head, explaining, "We could do so with no consequences for ourselves, Naruto, but the same is not true for our client. He has traveled through this area without a ninja escort before and is likely to do so again. It is better for him to lose a small amount of money now than earn the long term ill will of the samurai stationed in this area."

Neji nodded along readily at the jounin's logic. "It is only sensible. By protecting the client from this small hurt, we could inflict something much worse in the future."

"Freaking samurai," Naruto growled. "People always talk about how honorable samurai are supposed to be. What a joke!"

"Samurai are human just like you and I, Naruto. Some are good and honorable, others are corrupt or evil. Ninja are no different."

Naruto eventually sighed, conceding, "Yeah, I get that. Still sucks, though."

"Why are we even bothering to go through the border checkpoint, Sensei?" Tenten asked.

"Tea Country is not an official ally of Fire Country, but the countries do share a number of treaty agreements. Konoha ninja on official business are able to enter Tea Country legally so long as we check in and receive a stamped seal on our travel papers. We could avoid doing so easily enough, but would gain nothing from it while potentially causing a diplomatic incident."

xxxx

A/N: I apologize for another chapter without much happening. I think we'll take a look at the goings on back in Konoha in the next chapter. Lee should be pretty well infected with Guy cooties by now and there's been a great deal of interest in Sasuke from a number of readers.

Please review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/16/2012


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**NOTE**: The lyrics for DVDA's South Park adapted _Montage_ song were borrowed and slightly altered for this story without their permission.

xxxx

Chapter Seventeen:

xxxx

_[The day's approaching to give it your best…]_

Rock Lee, now apprenticed to the magnificent Might Guy, accepts his Konoha forehead protector, unshed tears glittering in his eyes…

_[…And you've got to reach your prime!]_

…Panting, his gi soaked through with sweat, the exhausted boy collapses to the ground, his seventeenth lap of Konoha incomplete…

_[That's when you need to put yourself to the test…]_

Rock Lee, a sack of stones strapped to his back, completes his twentieth lap of Konoha…

_[…And show us a passage of time!]_

…The teenager grins as pitch black locks fall away, soon to reveal a hairstyle identical to his mentor…

_[We're gonna need a montage! __**MONTAGE!**__]_

Rock Lee runs up the side of the Hokage Mountain, chakra flaring wildly out of control, burning the soles of his feet…

_[A ninja training montage! __**MONTAGE!**__]_

…A wooden training dummy splinters, blown apart by the bloody, gauze wrapped knuckles of a green spandex clad teen…

_[Show a lot of things happening at once…]_

Rock Lee's arms blur, flinging kunai at superhuman velocity…

_[…Remind everyone of what's going on! __**WHAT'S GOING ON!**__]_

…A mentor smiles widely as he straps seal-engraved weights to his apprentice's legs…

_[And with every shot show a little improvement…]_

Rock Lee can barely walk, every bit of his great strength required to lift one foot in front of another…

_[…To show it all would take too long!]_

…Now he runs, leaping over trees rather than dodge them…

_[That's called a montage! __**MONTAGE!**__]_

Rock Lee explodes in a towering vortex of chakra…

_[Even the Hokage had a montage! __**MONTAGE!**__]_

…As he stands upon the enormous stone face of the Yondaime Hokage overlooking Konoha…

_[In any village if you want to go…]_

Rock Lee stares down upon the village of his birth, fierce pride shining from his intense gaze…

_[…From just a genin to a kage…]_

…Might Guy stands resplendent, callused hand resting on the shoulder of his beloved apprentice…

_[You need a montage!_ _**MONTAGE!**__]_

Rock Lee hammers his fist into a boulder, exploding it into a cloud of dust and gravel…

_[A simple little montage! __**MONTAGE!**__]_

…Mentor and apprentice run side by side, completing their one hundredth circuit of Konoha, neither breathing hard…

_[Always fade out in a montage…]_

Rock Lee holds out his bandaged hand, smiling gently as woodland creatures of all sorts slowly approach, a sparrow alights on the back of his arm…

_[If you fade out it seems like more time has a passed in a montage…]_

…Waves crash and the sun sets, Might Guy and Rock Lee stand back to back, the fading light over the horizon creating a glowing halo above their heads…

xxxx

"Wha-what…was…that?" gasped Hatake Kakashi, his chest heaving and stomach churning. These stupid challenges were getting out of hand.

"Demonic Illusion: Montage Viewing…Success!" came Might Guy's bellowed response.

"You win this one…" the masked ninja admitted with a shiver. Next time Guy looked even a little bit shifty, Kakashi vowed to uncover his implanted sharingan eye immediately, excessive chakra drain be damned.

xxxx

Kitayama, the southernmost port of Tea Country, was only just barely visible from Naruto's position near the stern of the large ship. The sailors didn't like it when he called their ship a boat, viewing the term as an insult to the vessel. He was also most assuredly _not_ on the _back_ of the ship, they insisted. It was the _stern. _Sailors were strange.

A short ocean voyage to the island nation of Sea Country would be a more than welcome break from more than a month of unending monotony in rural Tea Country. Once you've seen nine or ten fishing villages, you've pretty much seen them all. They all looked the same, they all smelled the same, and they all had the same food. The people inhabiting them even started to blend together until you couldn't tell one apart from the other without difficult. Ramen existed here, but it was barely better than the instant stuff; Naruto's personal horde of Ichiraku's fare was long gone now.

If nothing else, Team Nine was at least able to resume semi-regular training much sooner than any of the genin expected. Beyond practically crawling between coastal villages, there wasn't much else to do but train, even if a surprising number of Tea Country villages were more welcoming to ninja than those of southern Fire Country. Sensei believed the greater hospitality may have been a result of the nation's prolific commercial trade. Goods from all over the known world poured into the ports of Tea Country and were just as quickly shipped off to other locales; people, ninja included, tended to follow this ever shifting flow of wealth. There were many wealthy folks living in the bustling ports who could afford to hire ninja.

The vigorous splashing of a dozen Tentens dancing through the ship's wake drew Naruto's attention from the fading view of Kitayama. She and Naruto had been receiving sporadic instruction in water ninjutsu from Sensei for weeks now; there were few locations more conducive to learning the techniques than by the seashore. Tenten wasn't water-natured, but she worked well with the element, especially the few chakra-light techniques she'd picked up from Sensei. Unfortunately her chakra reserves could not support heavy use of water ninjutsu without ready sources of water nearby. Naruto had the opposite problem. He possessed enough chakra to just create water though brute force for any technique he could desire to use, but his Iron Release seemed to function closely enough to earth-natured chakra that he'd struggled to learn to make water clones. It was enough to keep his promise to Tenten, though.

"Why don't you join us, Naruto, the water is great?" queried the entire group of water clones in a single, resonant voice. That wasn't creepy at all. Really.

With the anemic wind barely filling its sails, the ship wasn't moving much faster than Mr. Iwana's wagon and water clones used so little chakra to water walk that Tenten probably wasn't stressing her reserves any more than if she alone was playing on the ocean surface herself. It was a good control exercise, probably recommended by Sensei.

"No thanks, I'm comfortable up here!" responded Naruto with a wave. If she kept teasing him about his tendency to sink, he was going to have to tell her mom. That'd show the girl not to pick on a guy's disability!

"Just make some clones, you dummy!" Oh yeah…

xxxx

Naruto was no chakra sensor and likely never would be. He was not, however, blind to the use of large quantities of chakra in his immediate vicinity. It was a short, sharp spike of foreign chakra, a signature he'd never felt before, that startled the blond genin from his fitful sleep. Lack of seasickness apparently did not mean one adjusted easily to sleeping on the constantly swaying deck of a ship at sea. A moment later, before he'd climbed to his feet, the ship jarred to a sudden, shuddering halt. Instinctive application of chakra to stick himself to the wood paneling was all that kept Naruto from tumbling wildly across the deck. The vessel creaked and groaned mightily in protest, timber flexing almost to the breaking point. The mainmast snapped off near the base, tearing the away most of the ship's rigging and leaving only a single little sail near the stern intact.

A sliver of moonlight shining through a break in the clouds above was enough for Naruto to see the rest of his team already on their feet. Neji's byakugan was active.

Dead silence was quickly replaced by the cries of rudely woken and injured sailors.

"Neji, report," ordered Sensei. The greenest Hyuuga genin could discover more about a battlefield faster than the most experienced veteran, cutting through any interposing barriers or obscuring genjutsu with their disconcertingly pale eyes.

"The ship has been immobilized by a water ninjutsu," Neji observed, pointing slightly to his right. "The technique is being maintained by a ninja aboard a small sailing vessel approximately three hundred and eighty meters from our position." He again pointed, once to a location far to his left and again straight ahead. "There are two other identical vessels, approximately three hundred and two hundred twenty five meters distant, respectively. Each vessel has three ninja-grade chakra sources in addition to twelve to fifteen civilians. I would estimate a jounin and two chuunin or elite genin on the first vessel and three genin or chuunin on the other vessels."

A dense milky-white mist was rising from the surface of the ocean surrounding their becalmed ship. Clearly manmade, the chakra-laden mist tingled across Naruto's skin.

Sensei nodded grimly, his expression already becoming difficult to see in the rapidly thickening mist. "Indication of village of origin?"

"Unclear, Sensei; the distance coupled with the chakra-infused mist is interfering with my ability to focus on finer details."

Naruto could no longer see his teammates, though there was less than two meters distance between them.

"Expect an attack in moments, students. The client is no longer your primary concern. If this is a village-sanctioned assault, we must live to bring word to Hokage-sama." Sensei paused and raised his voice. "Any passengers or crew who can hear me, for your own safety you must retreat below deck. Seal the hatches behind you. This is your only warning."

"The enemy vessels are closing the distance, Sensei. They are employing a water ninjutsu to travel against wind and current."

"Tenten, Naruto, create as many water clones as you are comfortable with. Neji, please create a single earth clone, but do not attempt further earth ninjutsu unless the situation grows desperate, the chakra expenditure required over an open ocean would be self defeating."

Dozens of water-based duplicates of Tenten, Naruto, and Ebisu soon joined Team Nine, each clone forming with greater than expected speed due to the excessive moisture in the atmosphere and the surrounding ocean. Neji vomited forth an impossible amount of mud to form his lone earth clone. The clones were rapidly armed with explosive kunai, courtesy of Tenten's well stocked weapon scroll. The last Naruto-clone had just accepted its weapons when an artificially amplified voice shattered the mist-muted silence.

"Ninja of Konoha, you are surrounded and outnumbered. Surrender or die."

"Rubbish," Sensei snapped, his hushed voice barely audible to the genin. "We are obviously the objective of this assault. Treachery or enemy espionage undoubtedly," he continued. "Whether an enemy village-sponsored threat or opportunistic missing-ninja, Neji's byakugan is too tempting a target, and Naruto's secrets are far too valuable to squander. Neither will be allowed to live, whether we surrender or not." Even with his Bloodline protected by the Caged-Bird seal, a male Hyuuga would bring a hefty bounty to a number of interested parties. While Naruto's quasi-Bloodline might garner attention, the amount of chakra conductive iron he carried on and in his person was worth enough to finance a war or buy a small kingdom.

The jounin flashed through a rapid series of hand signs, then held a ram seal close to his throat. "Under whose authority do you make such demands?" His voice boomed, the volume raised to an incredible extent by the technique.

"My own authority!" was the unseen ninja's immediate response.

"The vessels have halted their approach well short of the mist enshrouding our ship. They've taken up positions approximately one hundred and fifty meters away and are dropping anchors," reported Neji. "The ninja speaking is also maintaining the ninjutsu immobilization technique."

"I regret the circumstances of your first true combat engagement, students," Sensei murmured, his voice no longer painfully loud. He created a trio of water clones then Transformed two of them into likeness of Tenten and Naruto. "Neji, leave your earth clone onboard to guide my imposters. Team Nine, follow me." Their jounin leader made a jogging leap, vaulting the railing of the ship and plunged toward the ocean surface below. The group rushed toward one of the ships Neji indicated did not have a jounin onboard. Their multitude of water clones were sent in a suicidal rush toward the other two vessels to serve as a distraction. If they happened to inflict casualties, even better.

xxxx

Tenten's heart pounded, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Alongside her teammates, she dashed across the surprisingly smooth ocean surface, guided more by the familiar chakra presences than her senses of sight or sound.

A trio of explosions far behind her position ended with a scream; two of the twelve water clones she'd created also expired in the hail of shrapnel.

The mist abruptly ended, as if she'd stepped through an intangible wall, the humid salt-tinged air clear once again. Despite the weak moonlight, she could easily see Teacher, Neji, and Naruto now. They were less than fifty meters from their target. It was smaller than she expected, not even half the size of the ship Mr. Iwana chartered to carry them to Sea Country, with a deck perhaps two meters above the water line. Midnight black sails swept back from the ship on angled masts.

More distant explosions coincided with the sensation of another five of her water clones being dispelled. If enemies were eliminated, none were considerate enough to announce their demise.

Sensei flung a pair of Naruto's explosive kunai toward the ship, not at anyone on deck, but at the hull itself. The genin followed his example, peppering the vessel with half a dozen weapons. The following explosion opened a gaping wound in their target's hull. It began to list immediately, taking on more water than the crew could possibly cope with.

There was no time to celebrate, as the sea churned a short distance ahead. A dragon composed of water, larger than the enemy ship itself, rose from the surface and barreled in their direction. Tenten dodged aside frantically, avoiding the roaring beast, then executed a trio of backward somersaults to evade a swarm of shuriken.

"You bitch! You blew up my fucking ship!" shouted the attacking ninja.

The furious storm of projectiles was poorly aimed, but forced Tenten to dodge continually for several long moments. When she finally had breathing room, it became apparent she'd covered a greater distance than expected. The crippled enemy ship was now much further away than she would have guessed and barely visible in the weak moonlight. She could see figures fighting on a section of deck only centimeters above water.

"Water Release: Water Clones!" she quickly incanted, forming three duplicates. She used a Replacement technique to switch with one of her clones a split second later, the transition saving her from a scything beam of water that bisected her clone in a diagonal cut from shoulder to hip.

"Oh, the little ninja girl knows a few tricks, eh? Too bad they won't save you." The comment gave away the enemy's position, earning him a double handful of explosive kunai. The masked ninja dodged by momentarily halting his water walking, splashing into the sea in time and allow the deadly projectiles to sail over his head harmlessly.

He rose above the surface in a chakra-propelled surge. "Stupid bitch, is that the best you can do?"

Tenten responded with her favored ninjutsu. "Lightning Release: Storm Lance!"

The beam of lightning chakra was dodged by a small margin, though the follow up crash of focused thunder impacted with a glancing blow that lifted the ninja off his feet and spun him wildly through the air. He landed on the water, disoriented and in pain. It was a testament to his proficiency with the water walking skill that he was able to remain on the surface at all. Dazed, one arm hanging limply from a damaged shoulder, the ninja climbed unsteadily to his feet and wiped away the blood leaking from his nose. He did notice the blood pouring from his ears.

As Tenten prepared to finish off the vulnerable ninja, Neji appeared behind him in a Konoha body flicker. She could not see exactly what her teammate did, but the enemy fell over dead a second later.

The genin girl breathed a sigh of relief. "That was my kill, Neji!" She'd softened him up and everything.

The Hyuuga boy shrugged.

xxxx

Regaining his bearings after being carried back into the mist in the expansive wake created by the enemy's water dragon, Naruto suffused his body with chakra and retrieved his rod from storage.

The last of his water clones expired in a rolling wave of explosions, hopefully taking an enemy or two with them. He created twenty more, not taking the time to arm this set, and sent them running further into the mist. Either they would find the enemy ships or stumble across their own. Neji's earth clone could give them directions if necessary.

Exiting the mist revealed Sensei standing on the leaning deck of the recently crippled ship, engaged in melee combat with two hostile ninja. He body flickered to the bowsprit of the ship and lashed out with his rod, lengthening it with a surge of chakra. The tendril of iron snaked out six meters and wrapped around the neck of Sensei's sword-wielding opponent, tightening so quickly and with such force that the ninja was decapitated.

"I'll handle this asshole, Sensei!" volunteered Naruto, eager to test himself against a real enemy. The boy's iron whip lengthened, forcing the last enemy ninja to dodge lest the weapon that so easily beheaded his compatriot capture him as well.

Sensei obviously didn't need the assistance, planting a kunai in the distracted ninja's left eye.

"No need, Naruto," Sensei's comment coincided with a telltale flash of lightning chakra Naruto knew well.

Naruto's caught sight of Tenten and Neji rapidly sprinting in their direction.

Less than thirty seconds had elapsed since he first sighted the enemy ship.

xxxx

A/N: Come on, can't you guys totally imagine Guy tossing around a training montage genjutsu? Now we're getting a little action. Sorry it took so long!

No Sasuke in this chapter, maybe soon, maybe later.

Please remember to review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/17/2012


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Eighteen:

xxxx

"Naruto, seal away the remains," Sensei ordered. "Tenten, Neji, what of your kill?"

Naruto enjoyed his ability to seal a virtually unlimited amount of material within the seals he hid in his armor. It was useful in combat and in everyday life. He had spare cloths, weapons, food of all kinds, gear, books, scrolls, and more. He did not, however, have any dead bodies, nor did he intend to start keeping any in there any time soon. That was just gross. Though it took a moment or two longer, he instead unsealed an empty storage scroll, gathered up the recently deceased, and sealed them away in it. The scroll fit easily in an inner pocket of his coat.

"Sealed, Sensei," answered Tenten. She patted her weapon scroll.

"Excellent. Neji, report."

"Only a single enemy vessel remains afloat, Sensei, though it is damaged and taking on water. Naruto's water clones are engaging the jounin and the two probable chuunin on our ship."

"Are my Team Nine decoys intact?"

"It would appear so. I believe they are engaging the enemy in conversation."

Sensei was silent for a long pregnant moment before speaking, "Follow me, students." He began to job back toward the mist. "When we reach the ship I will temporarily disrupt the mist blanketing the immediate area. You are to use the opening to engage the chuunin and draw them out onto the water if feasible. I will handle the jounin. The ship must remain intact." Final orders delivered, the jounin flared with chakra and darted forward with a boost of superhuman speed. He was followed by the trio of genin an instant later.

xxxx

"Wind Release: Gale Wind Palm!" Ebisu shouted, hand seals already complete and chakra primed for release, as he leapt over the railing of the ship. Fire-natured as were most Konoha ninja, he had great difficulty using wind ninjutsu. Employing his only wind technique sapped an uncomfortably large portion of his remaining chakra, but it was necessary. Neji could fight in the mist unimpeded until his chakra was depleted, an advantage Naruto and Tenten did not share. He had neglected training them to fight with impaired senses. There would be time to correct that deficiency later.

Luckily, the violent burst of wind created by his technique did not just sweep most of the ship's deck clear of mist; it also removed one of the enemy chuunin, tossing him over the railing and into the ocean. Several of Naruto's water clones were carried overboard with the young man. That was more than an acceptable trade.

"That one is mine, Sensei!" shouted Naruto. He didn't give Ebisu time to argue, dashing across the ship and right back over the railing. He disappeared into the mist.

Silently, Neji and Tenten followed Naruto's example. They converged on the sole remaining chuunin, who had been occupied near the bow fighting with one of Naruto's clones and Ebisu's Transformed Neji and Tenten lookalikes. His genin were skilled and powerful. He could trust his back to them while he dealt with the main threat.

"So nice of you to join us," commented the enemy jounin after his short sword lopped the head off Neji's earth clone. It rapidly collapsed into a puddle of mud. The attacking ninja's features were totally obscured behind a dark mask, only a thin line of pale flesh and eyes visible through the darkly colored full body covering.

The last of Naruto's water clones and the one Ebisu had left behind as a decoy of himself launched themselves at the ninja. Naruto's duplicate expired in a spray of water, but his own survived and scored a shallow gash on the sword-wielding ninja's left arm.

"I guess your return means my small fleet has been destroyed? No matter, they were stolen for this mission." Oh, he was one of the talkative types.

Ebisu did not speak, silently Replacing himself with his water clone. It knew what to do. Let the fool speak if he wished, it could only be to Ebisu's advantage.

"Why have you attacked us?" asked his clone.

The jounin laughed. "A little birdie says you've got a treasure. I want it."

xxxx

Naruto's water clones were gone now, but they'd performed their final task well, herding the chuunin that Sensei had blown overboard out of the mist.

"I'm going to gut you like a fish, kid," spat Naruto's opponent. He couldn't tell much about the man, covered as he was in dark clothing and a mask-like wrapping that left only his eyes visible. The voice belonged to a young man, probably still a teenager.

Naruto scoffed. "Pfft. Dude, you could hardly get rid of a few of my water clones. You are so fucked." Rod momentarily in storage, Naruto palmed a double handful of shuriken. _Iron Release: False Life Imitation!_

He tossed the projectiles haphazardly toward the masked ninja. His opponent barely had to dodge, leaning just centimeters to the left to avoid one that spun especially close. Each shuriken flew another ten or so meters before abruptly transforming into six iron clones. Anything under ten or so simultaneously animated objects and he barely even felt the strain; six were nothing.

"They'll let anyone be a ninja in Konoha nowadays," said the young man with a contemptuous laugh. "This is how it's done, you tree-hugging brat!"

Instead of being forced to avoid the pair of kunai his opponent was preparing to launch toward him, Naruto smiled humorlessly as the ninja suddenly dropped into the ocean below. Mouthy asshole or not, his survival instincts were up to snuff. The last second evasion saved him from being grabbed from behind by two of Naruto's newly created clones. Already given the command to explode, the clones ineffectually sprayed the surface with shrapnel.

Only the armor sheathing Naruto's torso saved him from being sliced open belly to sternum.

He stumbled back, and then turned his momentum into a rolling back flip that bought enough time to Replace himself with an iron clone. Naruto detonated that clone without a second thought, nearly catching the enemy ninja before he once more submerged beneath the surface. Fingering his black shirt, now slit up the middle by the razor edge of a kunai, Naruto grimaced. That surprise attack really would have gutted him like a fish if not for his armor.

This guy was incredibly fast underwater, moving far more quickly than swimming alone would allow. A water-based version of the earth passage exercise, he guessed.

xxxx

Tenten resisted the urge to laugh inappropriately. You shouldn't laugh at the misfortunes of your enemy in battle, even if it was sort of funny.

A minute or so of playing cat and mouse, her explosive kunai and a couple of lightning ninjutsu pitted against their opponent's mundane shuriken and an expertly wielded water whip technique went from a running battle to a total route in seconds. The ninja body flickered into their midst, attempting to finish off both Neji and Tenten before either could react. That single disastrous attempt to engage Neji in melee ended with the ninja's right arm completely disabled and a deep wound sliced across her back from Tenten's short sword.

Now the girl ran for her life, spending as much time below the surface of the ocean as above, her only real hope to continue to flee from the pursuing pair of genin until backup arrived; if it arrived at all.

Tenten hadn't been sure at first, the ninja's figure and stride had hinted at a female, but the poor light and dark baggy clothing obscured her form enough to hide the more prominent curves. Losing her mask in the most recent explosion confirmed Tenten's suspicions. Their victim was maybe sixteen years old, possibly younger.

"I shall end this farce," Neji announced. "Go, assist Naruto or Sensei."

"You sure?" questioned Tenten.

Neji made a sound low in his throat that might have been a laugh or a growl, Tenten wasn't sure.

"Fine, fine, this kill is yours."

xxxx

Naruto kinda regretted that _"You are so fucked"_ comment. He could hear explosions in the distance and an occasional flash of actinic light signaled one of Tenten's lightning ninjutsu. His teammates needed him and he was stuck screwing around here because he hadn't taken the initial opportunity to finish his opponent off when he had the chance.

Fighting a battle on open water did not hinder his abilities to the same extent it limited Neji's ninjutsu, but it sure as hell consolidated his options. The constant concern and attention he had to devote to not allowing his concentration to break for even a moment was frustrating; slipping beneath the surface at this point was all but a guaranteed death sentence. The enemy ninja obviously had greater experience and skill fighting in and on the water.

Wary now of the man's uncanny speed in the water, Naruto had not given his opponent another free shot. Iron clones were his favorites, but water clones worked better in this situation; he could make as many as he wanted without splitting his much needed focus. He created thirty water-based duplicates and dispersed them among his remaining iron clones.

Staying constantly on the move, Replacing himself with clones at random, Naruto waited for the ninja to emerge. His rod was back in hand, where it should have been to begin with, ready to lash out and end the threat as soon as it made an appearance.

Naruto saw his first real live shark when it exploded out of the water beneath an iron clone, gaping razor-filled maw already half closed around the duplicate. The pictures in books did not do the creature justice. Then again, he doubted the authors of those books ever came across a ten meter long shark with armor plating and glowing red eyes. Detonating the clone didn't shower the area with blood and gore, as Naruto expected. Instead, chakra smoke, strangely luminescent in the poor light, billowed up and away from the explosion. Now the bastard was summoning gigantic monster sharks?

"Ok, new plan," Naruto muttered.

Chouji once told him about an extremely aggressive species of huge turtle that lived off the coast in the far northern reaches of Earth Country. Its meat was considered a delicacy and a freshly killed turtle was worth thousands of ryo. There was some difficulty involved with actually catching the turtles, since they were unnaturally intelligent, exceptionally well armored, and constantly surrounded with a haze of lightning chakra while conscious. Apparently, fishermen hired Iwa genin to use explosive tags to bomb the turtles in their underwater habitats, killing them outright at best or at worst knocking them unconscious and lowering their natural defenses for easier capture. The Akimichi boy lamented the poor trade relations between Earth and Fire Country; the expense of shipping the turtle meat all the way to Konoha meant he'd only ever tasted it once before.

"It's time to go fishing."

xxxx

Blows were exchanged in a rapid blur of ringing steel, kunai and sword meeting faster than the untrained eye of a civilian would have been able to perceive. Ebisu was the faster of the two. His enemy was stronger and had a pronounced reach advantage. He feinted a lunge, then twisted around the follow-up, deliberately taking a slash across the shoulder to stab a kunai – sadly not an explosive one, those had been used up – deep into the muscle of the enemy's thigh. Though he missed the femoral artery by slightly less than two centimeters, it was still a significant injury, forcing the masked ninja to disengage from melee.

Ebisu Replaced himself with a fragment of the ship's destroyed mast to avoid being pierced by a trio of water bolts, giving the other ninja a chance to jerk the kunai out of his thigh with a snarl of pain, tie a makeshift bandage around the wound, and swallow a blood pill. His opponent was a skilled water ninjutsu wielder in the ideal environment to make use of his affinity. He was fortunate the masked ninja needed the ship relatively intact, else the water ninjutsu would likely be considerably more difficult to cope with.

"You should have just surrendered, you know?"

Ah, the enemy was talking again. Ebisu appreciated the short chance to catch his breath and gather himself for a counter-attack, perfectly aware his opponent was doing the same; the blood pill would begin artificially stimulating the quick production of platelets and release other drugs to dull the pain from the man's injuries within moments. He was burning through his reserves at a ruinous rate, saturating the surrounding air with as much fire-natured chakra as he could without risking damage to his coils. It did not remove the mist entirely, but it thinned it out enough to increase visibility over much of the ship. Soon he would need to consume a soldier pill to maintain combat effectiveness.

"We only really came for the blond kid, the rest of you are superfluous."

There were many reasons a squad of foreign or missing-ninja could have to seek out his youngest student; the Kyuubi, his parentage, or the wealth of chakra iron he possessed. Ebisu would expect a more experienced squad of elite jounin to be given the task of assassinating the son of the Yondaime or kidnapping the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, not a single jounin of average power and a mix of chuunin and genin. "I take it my student is the 'treasure'?" The distant explosions and dull thumps had ceased, no longer echoing through the surrounding mists. Soon his students would return to assist or there would be even more enemies to fight and he'd have failed as a Sensei.

"He does have the treasure," the man laughed harshly. "I just need to-" The villainous monologue was cut short by a kunai whistling through the space his head once occupied.

The ninja dodged that kunai, twisted to avoid two more thrown by Ebisu, and Replaced himself with a section of broken timber to escape being struck by Tenten's Storm Lance technique. The beam of lightning carved off a corner of the wheelhouse and then smashed it to fragments. The girl had really taken his instruction in lightning ninjutsu and run with it. If that wasn't a potential B-Ranked ninjutsu, he'd eat his forehead protector.

In any other situation Ebisu would be impressed by the ninja's prowess, so deftly avoiding a series of attacks from three different angles of approach on a bum leg.

Neji body flickered to Ebisu's side, unharmed and with an unconscious girl across one shoulder. Tenten made her appearance a moment later, short sword in hand. In the back of his mind, Ebisu noted their timely arrival did have a certain dramatic flair. If only Naruto followed right behind his female teammate, the trio of genin would be complete.

A flicker of chakra, vibrant even when muted to hide its unusual intensity, appeared in the remains of the wheelhouse.

Ah, there he was.

xxxx

Sensei could get pissy about not preserving evidence all he wanted, Naruto had no intention of gathering what remained of his enemy together. The bloody chunks of human flesh and tattered fabric floating on the surface and just moments ago raining down from above could feed the fish for all he cared. Arming more than two dozen water clones with explosives, in addition to the iron clones' already explosive potential, and then allowing them to sink had worked better than he'd expected. That's what ole' blood and chunks over there got for being a one trick pony.

Chouji's insistence on talking about his favorite foods had paid off big time for Naruto. He was gonna buy the pleasantly plump Akimichi boy a whole damn turtle once he stopped being poor.

The sound of a light splashing movement on the water's surface somewhere behind Naruto startled the boy, causing him to spin around and nearly lash out with his rod before the feel of the familiar crackling sensation he associated with Tenten's chakra presence made itself known.

"You'd think a kid wearing a neon orange coat would be easier to find," teased Tenten.

"Some of us don't have targets willing to stay up top to have explosives thrown at them," responded Naruto. "Where's Neji?"

"He's-"

Neji body flickered onto the scene, an unconscious or just thoroughly disabled girl hanging off his shoulder.

"Right there," finished Tenten lamely.

"Sensei needs our assistance," commented the Hyuuga, galvanizing his teammates into action.

xxxx

"I want him alive, students," was Sensei's only order.

Neji dropped his captured cargo unceremoniously to the deck below. The female's continued survival was of less importance if they could capture the ringleader of this ambush. With all of her relevant tenketsu blocked she would be going nowhere under her own power any time soon.

He had caught flashes of the enemy jounin's fight with Sensei during his and Tenten's battle with their opponent and believed he had a good read on the man's preferred method of attack and his general physical capabilities. Even injured, the masked ninja was faster than he, though the difference in speed was not so great that he would be unable to offer a challenge. All he needed to do was block two or three vital tenketsu, in a hand or wrist preferably, and the fight would be over, the enemy's combat abilities reduced too much to present a credible threat to Team Nine.

xxxx

A/N: The fight will conclude next chapter and we'll learn more about what's going on and what prompted the ambush at sea.

Since a lot of readers have recently inquired, I'll once again reiterate that I still have no plans for Naruto to learn the Shadow Clone technique in this story. He's got his iron clones, which he will continue to become more proficient with, in addition to water clones. This goes for wind ninjutsu as well. Naruto is no longer wind-natured, though he may learn wind techniques in the future. With his recent difficulties learning water ninjutsu, you might see him wheedling some fire techniques out of Ebisu soon.

Please remember to review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/18/2012


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Nineteen:

xxxx

"'I want him alive, students," parroted the masked ninja, his voice trailing off into a malevolent chuckle. Or was he a pirate? They had been attacked at sea by ninja in ships wanting to capture or kill Team Nine for some reason, which seemed very pirate-like to Naruto. Were there such things as ninja-pirates? How did that affect score-keeping?

"Such arrogance!" roared the ninja-pirate. "I am Hoshigaki Tetsuro and the ocean is my ally!" He ripped off his mask and threw it aside. Naruto could see only pale flesh and dark hair from his position, but Tenten noticeably grimaced. Must be one ugly dude.

Sensei was right again; ninja who spent a lot of time talking really did have no one to blame but themselves for their defeat. Even as his iron rod split into a mass of wire-thin tendrils, Naruto decided to never again shoot his mouth off during combat. Minutes ago, his cocky commentary had turned what could have been a much simpler fight into a near evisceration and now this bastard was making the same mistake.

The loud ninja-pirate began to flash his bloody hands through a lightning fast series of hand signs Naruto could not discern.

Team Nine was on the move, none of them willing to allow their enemy to finish what was sure to be a deadly technique. Neji darted forward, byakugan telling him all he needed to know to shut down the ninja's chakra system. Tenten rushed to flank the ninja from the right side where he would be weakest due to the stab wound inflicted by Sensei. Their jounin leader blurred through the hand signs of what looked to be a fire technique.

"Summoning: Maw of the-!" Any summoning with the word 'maw' in it, especially given their present location and his previous encounter with a summoned creature, was cause enough to use extreme measures to dispel or disrupt the cast.

None of Naruto's teammates were quite quick enough, however, to reach the ninja-pirate before Naruto lopped off both of the man's arms just above the elbow with a pair of nearly invisible iron tendrils. Dozens more swarmed around the critically injured ninja, enveloping him in a makeshift iron cocoon. In multiple locations up and down the bound ninja's body, the chakra-infused wire parted cloth as if passing through a breeze and either sizzled against concealed ceramic armor plates or bit into pale flesh. All it would take was for Naruto to think about it and the man would be reduced to slivers of finely sliced meat, but Sensei wanted him alive.

"Arghh!" The thick spray of arterial blood pouring from the man's stumps looked black in the weak light of a cloud-obscured moon.

Holding the screaming ninja-pirate immobile, Naruto felt a tingle of foreign chakra flow back through the iron rod. It was an unpleasant sensation akin to the pins and needles feeling of a numbed limb regaining circulation. He tripled the chakra flowing into the rod and the tingle immediately subsided.

"Quickly, Neji, collapse his subclavian arteries and knock him out!" commanded Sensei, fire technique forgotten, battlefield medicine now the priority. From a waist pouch the jounin retrieved a roll of linen bandages, unwinding it with a snap of his wrist, and then tearing it in half.

Neji went about his business quickly, byakugan guiding a several precise jyuken strikes. The flow of blood was partially staunched by Neji's work and Sensei's tourniquets halted the remainder.

So ended the career of a powerful ninja.

xxxx

"I would have settled for disarming him in the figurative sense, Naruto, but this works as well," Ebisu murmured to his student. The field dressings he'd used to bandage Tetsuro's wounds were medicated with an anti-bacterial agent that would also promote blood clotting, but he hesitated to remove the hastily applied tourniquets. They would have to come off at some point soon or there would be a serious risk of tissue death, the same with Neji's work on the main arteries supplying blood to the arms. He had not yet determined if he would keep the hostile ninja alive long enough for such concerns to truly matter. Besides, this far from a hospital with only basic medical care, few could survive so severe an injury for long even under the best of circumstances.

The one ninja skill Ebisu could not claim some proficiency in was the healing arts of medical ninjutsu. Generating medical chakra was beyond his capability, though not his level of control. Medical chakra was not something one needed a true affinity for, contrary to the opinions of Princess Tsunade whose Senju blood was the next best thing, but you had to learn to create it early enough in your career or your chakra would never be able to take on healing properties. Now as he treated his own wounds, minor as they were in comparison to Tetsuro's, Ebisu once again regretted neglecting to study that highly useful field of ninjutsu. The wound in his shoulder would definitely need stitches soon.

"Sorry about that, Sensei," Naruto apologized. "One of the ninja-pirates I fought summoned a freaking huge shark. I didn't want to see what this guy had up his sleeves." Ninja-pirate? Ebisu resisted the urge to roll his eyes. No doubt Naruto would attempt to increase the worth of ninja-pirates in the juvenile game he was playing with Tenten and Neji, though he wasn't certain the other two genin were actually playing along or just humoring the boy.

With the deck of the damaged ship finally well lit by several seal-engraved glowing kunai planted blade first into any wooden surface that didn't look like it was about to fall off at any given moment, the young blond was crouched down beside the unconscious ninja, apparently fascinated by the injured man's appearance. Ebisu admitted he was intrigued as well. Hoshigaki Tetsuro either belonged to a clan with a Bloodline he'd never heard of or was the product of extraordinarily extensive surgical modification. Perhaps in his mid-twenties, the man had blue-tinted skin, black – not merely dark – eyes with white pupils, and gills in either cheek that may or may not have been functional. Tetsuro's teeth, which he had at first glance assumed to be filed into triangular points, appeared to be actual shark teeth appropriately sized for a human mouth. Did the shark-like anatomy extend to cartilaginous bones? He could satisfy that curiosity in a moment when Tetsuro's severed arms were sealed away.

He did not know what to think of the Mist village forehead protectors he'd found tied around Tetsuro's waist and hidden beneath the folds of cloth wrapped around the neck of the ninja captured by Neji. They were unscratched, the common practice missing-ninja used to delineate their status to the world, but that was not solid confirmation of Mist's involvement or lack thereof in the ambush. Ebisu would have assumed there were no longer any Bloodline clans still active in Water Country, not with the years of purges aimed specifically toward wiping them out.

"Tenten, if you would please alert the crew that it is now safe for them to return to the deck?" Short sword now sheathed, the girl nodded and hurried to carry out his request.

Ebisu created a water clone to begin stitching his wounds. He did not mind another scar, he had several already. He just didn't want to chance leaving any fine needlework to his students. Their hands were probably still jittery from the after effects of adrenaline released during combat. Of the many things he'd taught his students thus far, first aid was not a priority, and he knew quite well how lightly the subject was touched on in the ninja academy. He would add that to his list of subjects to expound upon once back in Konoha.

xxxx

An hour later and the ship, named the Lucky Lady ironically enough, was in not much better condition than right after the fighting ended. The ruined mainmast and all sorts of other wooden debris were cast into the sea, tangled and fallen rigging was cut away for later salvage, and most of the blood washed overboard. Thankfully the sharks now swimming about the area were of the standard variety and not the 'monstrous swallow you whole without even noticing' summoned type Naruto exploded earlier. Amid a great deal of cursing and swearing and speaking in tongues, the captain announced that he and his men should be able to limp the ship into port so long as a storm didn't sweep into the area in the next few days. If that happened, they were screwed. The captain's actual choice of wording to relay that unpleasant outcome had made _Neji_ blush.

Remarkably free of injuries, the genin of Team Nine stood alongside their Sensei in the open area that once held the wheelhouse. Steering the ship would now be done from below deck since the wheel that once operated the rudder was long gone and they had no way to replace it at sea. Tenten apologized profusely for causing that damage. The captain didn't look all that forgiving.

"Let's hear what the subordinate has to say first. Wake her up, Neji." No sailors were within earshot of the interrogation. The captain was none too happy to once again have to clear the deck. He would have been even less pleased if Ebisu had to permanently silence members of his crew in order to prevent the spread of valuable village secrets.

Cursory inspection of the deceased attackers' belongings, with the exception of the one Naruto rendered irretrievable, revealed that each wore an intact Mist forehead protector somewhere about their person. Ebisu hoped he and his students had not just participated in the first skirmish of a new war. Mist's off and on again civil war and protracted Bloodline purges had kept it more or less isolated from the politics of the other ninja villages for years now. Even during the previous decades when the island-based village was not suffering from continual internal strife, there had been no overt conflicts with between their villages, not even during the three great ninja wars. To change that now would be most unfortunate.

Blindfolded, harshly bound with ninja wire, and her tenketsu blocked, the pretty brunette Mist ninja was as neutralized as a living person could ever be without resorting to the kind of crippling injuries Naruto had inflicted on their other captive. Her wounds were dressed as well as Ebisu could manage and she'd been force fed a blood pill while unconscious. It would be a shame to torture the girl to death after making the efforts to keep her from bleeding out or dying from an infection.

The girl's return to consciousness was obvious enough. She gasped, struggled against her bindings for few seconds, and then stilled once her situation became clear. She made no other sound beyond her now rapid breathing. It was a sad fact that captured ninja very rarely fared well in the hands of their captors. Females often fared worse than their male counterparts.

"All but one of your comrades is dead, ninja of the Mist, save Hoshigaki Tetsuro who lies by your side, crippled for the remainder of his life. We have tended your wounds and left your dignity intact," he admitted to the girl. He would make no threats he was not capable of carrying out. This was not a time for bluffing.

Silence was Ebisu's answer. Was she too frightened to speak or was this misplaced defiance?

"You must understand that your current predicament is most precarious." She was one of the last survivors of an illegal ambush that had failed miserably. Precarious was an understatement. "Though I will take no pleasure in the act, I am prepared to forcefully extract the information through force. My methods are ill-refined and crude. I cannot guarantee your survival; flaying leaves one open to numerous infec-"

"Flaying?" the captured ninja interrupted with something akin to a squeak.

"Indeed. I would normally hesitate to exercise that option, but with a skilled Hyuuga present, I am quite certain I can keep you conscious through the ordeal." If Neji proved up to the task and did not allow squeamishness to interfere, he could use his byakugan enhanced jyuken to regulate blood flow, detect signs of cardiac arrest quickly enough to make a difference, and prevent shock from setting in and dulling the pain or causing unconsciousness.

Neji gazed down at the girl, not quite sneering and otherwise unaffected. Tenten looked a little green-tinged, wholly uncomfortable with the idea of what he spoke of so casually. If the boy's expression was anything to go by, Naruto was torn between nausea and trying to put on a brave face for him and his fellow genin. Ebisu was proud that his students were handling this scenario so well. He'd been two years older than Naruto the first time he'd witnessed a field expedient interrogation and the less said about the fool he made of himself the better. Killing an enemy was an altogether different beast than systematically torturing them. Doing so away from a carefully controlled environment with all the tools of the trade and a medic standing by was not something many ninja survived. Those who did not succumb to their injuries often wished they had.

"M-Munashi Kohada, registration number 09305, chuunin of Hidden Mist! Please don't flay me!" Kohada cried desperately.

She broke more quickly than Ebisu expected, to be honest. Most ninja had enough resolve to at least resist until the blade slipped in and more than a few lasted until a few strips of flesh had been peeled away. There were very few ninjas with the willpower of Morino Ibiki who allowed himself to be virtually butchered without giving up information to his tormentors.

"Cooperate fully, answer my questions to the best of your ability, and you will not be harmed, Kohada. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir! Perfectly, sir!"

"For what reason was my team ambushed?" Ebisu was comfortable with the assumptions he'd arrived at from Tetsuro's earlier words. Now he needed to know details. How many heads would roll, for example.

"My squad was hired to destroy a growing pirate enclave that was based on one of the small unclaimed islands to the north of Sea Country. Infiltration prior to the assault turned up a series of communiqués between an agent and the leader of the pirates." It made sense to hire Mist ninja to deal with a pirate infestation if one could reach their island village or contact one of their representatives. As a whole, they specialized in aquatic warfare.

Kohada continued, "When Squad Leader Hoshigaki read the documents, he ordered the immediate destruction of the enclave before intelligence gathering efforts were completed."

"And the content of these communiqués?" prompted Ebisu.

"Mostly coordinates and shipping schedules, sir, but the message that prompted the premature elimination of the enclave was an eye witness account by the pirate's agent of a chakra iron weapon capable of leveling a forest in a single swing being wielded by a Konoha genin."

Oh dear. Ebisu exchanged a wordless glance with Neji, giving a single sharp nod toward the main hatch leading below deck. The Hyuuga disappeared in a Konoha standard body flicker. Tenten was scowling mightily now and Naruto wanted to say something so badly Ebisu could practically hear the boy's outraged voice already. In the blonde's hand spun the iron rod that seemed to have prompted this entire encounter.

"So Hoshigaki Tetsuro decided to risk a war between our two villages for the sake of a weapon?" Ebisu struggled with himself, fighting the maddening urge to let his killing intent blaze. The girl was cooperating fully and was not the subject of his ire. To frighten her unduly at this juncture would be unnecessary, cruel, and counterproductive.

"Squad Leader Hoshigaki's brother Kisame was once a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, sir. He stole the famed sword Samehada and went rogue about the same time I became a genin. Word around the village was that the remainder of the Hoshigaki clan was nearly purged as a result; they are a minor clan whose Bloodline is largely cosmetic. My squad mates and I assumed Hoshigaki wanted to use the weapon to return his clan to the good graces of the Mizukage." Kohada paused and took a deep breath. "There was also some concern amongst the squad that he might go rogue as well, but none of us who believed that a possibility had any means of contacting the village. Hoshigaki would have killed us without a second thought if we questioned his orders, sir." Kohada sounded certain and Ebisu believed her. Hoshigaki Tetsuro was shaping up to be an altogether unpleasant individual.

Neji was back, his face a mask of indifference but with eyes full of uncharacteristic rage, leading Iwana Kamamiri before him at kunai point. "The trash as you requested, Sensei."

"Thank you very much for your cooperation, Kohada." Ebisu turned to fully regard the man who had been his responsibility for over six weeks. As clients went, he was agreeable enough and did not make a nuisance of himself. He made no unreasonable demands and kept to himself more often than not. The time he spent in his wagon was probably devoted to planning how to relieve Naruto of the iron rod and the team of their lives.

"What is the meaning of this treatment?" Team Nine's client squawked indignantly. He was pale and wide-eyed. The Hyuuga boy had not been gentle. Good.

Neji shoved him forward hard enough that the rotund little man stumbled and fell. He landed on his hands and knees, now clearly able to see Hoshigaki's injured state, as he was practically nose to nose with the unconscious Mist ninja. He shouted and tried to rise. The edge of Ebisu's kunai pressing into the back of his neck froze the man in place.

"Listen carefully, Mr. Iwana. I will make you the same offer I made to one of our captives. Tell me the truth or I will peel you like a grape. She was sensible enough to acquiesce without further bloodshed. Will you be so reasonable or must I shed more blood this evening?"

"T-This is ridiculous! I demand to be released this instant! I'll see you hang for this outrage!" The ignorant civilian blustering was to be expected.

The razor edge of Ebisu's kunai traced a shallow cut into the sweat-slicked merchant's neck. The man shrieked and soiled himself noisily.

xxxx

_Fat, traitorous bastard!_ Naruto thought with a hate filled snarl. He leaned against the stubby piece of mainmast protruding from the deck of the ship, listening to Mr. Iwana confess his crimes. The man who had hired Team Nine as an escort was sometimes a legitimate business man, but one with a lucrative side enterprise he shared with his half-brother the pirate captain, another unrecognized bastard son of a Fire Country noble and his favored mistress. His latest scheme involved arranging shipments of preserved fish, a surprisingly valuable commodity in many parts of the world, then slipping critical information to his brother so the man's fleet could intercept the ships carrying the goods. Not only was the fish sold for a tidy profit, the sailors on the captured ships were impressed into service or sold outright as slaves, while the ships themselves were confiscated for sale or reuse.

There was also the small matter of his plans to poison Team Nine and steal the rod of chakra conductive iron Naruto had shown off all those weeks ago. Remembering the conversation now, Naruto could imagine a whole new context to the former client's words.

"_You are a remarkable young ninja," the bastard had said. Translation: 'You naïve little boy."_

"_Thanks, Mister!"_

"_You must wield a fearsome weapon to create such a mess as the one we left behind us." Translation: 'A treasure such as this in the hands of a baby ninja. I cannot allow this opportunity to go to waste.'_

_Just like a baby ninja wanting to impress some unimportant civilian, Naruto retrieved the rod from storage to demonstrate to the bastard how awesome he was. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. I can do lots of stuff with it, but the last one was crazy! I've never made it do anything like that before!" Then followed a short show of a few possible forms the rod could take._

"_You live up to the reputation your village, my young friend. You most certainly do." Translation: 'What a bunch of tree-hugging fools! Only they would trust something so valuable in the hands of a stupid child!'_

Naruto wanted to hurt the man so badly. The thought of slicing strips of skin from the bastard's hide no longer sickened him as it had a few short minutes ago. If not for Neji, the asshole wouldn't even have made it out of Fire Country alive!

"Naruto, get a grip!" Tenten shouted. She was shaking him by the shoulders.

"What?" he asked, making an effort not to let the pent up rage project in his voice.

"I've been trying to get your attention for a minute, Naruto. You acted like you didn't even hear me," she answered, looking down at her younger teammate with concern. "You're leaking a lot of killing intent and it's freaking out the civilians."

He shook his head and slumped back against the mast. "I'm sorry, Tenten. I was just distracted, thinking about what an idiot I've been."

Tenten patted his shoulder and said, "Naruto, you might be a dummy sometimes, but you're not an idiot. He had us all fooled, Sensei included."

"That doesn't matter, Tenten. We wouldn't have been attacked if it wasn't for me and my big mouth."

Tenten laughed in his face as if he'd told a rather funny joke. "So what? We're ninja now and that means we're going to be attacked from time to time. You need to stop worrying about the unimportant shit, Naruto, and focus on what really matters. We just creamed a full squad of Mist chuunin and their jounin leader on their home turf. We've been genin for less than four months!"

When you put it like that…

xxxx

"Do you feel comfortable creating what we discussed, Naruto?" Sensei asked.

"Yeah, it won't be a problem. I've kinda thought about something like this before, but that was just an idea I had for a shaped explosive." He retrieved an unmodified kunai from storage and began to dump chakra into it before imprinting several seals. As he worked, Sensei spoke with Kohada.

"Even with your tenketsu blocked, you are a trained ninja and thus far too dangerous to leave unbound, despite your willingness to cooperate. If you wish to be allowed to move about freely until we can work out what exactly to do with you and Tetsuro, Naruto will fit you with a device that will provide an additional layer of security." Hoshigaki Tetsuro would be getting one whether he liked it or not.

The blindfolded Mist chuunin nodded uncertainly.

"Would you please explain the details, Naruto?"

Naruto held a ring of steel in his hand, just large enough to fit comfortably around the girl's neck without chafing too badly. "I've put an explosive seal array into the collar. The force of the explosive is weak, but focused inward so that your head would be severed if it detonated. I can detonate it at will, but I've also set a proximity trigger. If you stay within about sixty meters or so, there shouldn't be a problem. To be safe, I wouldn't go more than fifty just in case; proximity seals can be a little finicky. If I don't infuse chakra into the collar every twenty four hours, it will also detonate."

"Needless to say, attempting to remove the collar would also detonate it," Ebisu added.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that one. Sorry, Sensei."

"Knowing this, do you still wish to be free of your bonds, Kohada?"

"Yes, sir."

xxxx

A/N: I hope this outcome didn't seem too contrived. It's been the planned result from the very beginning of the mission, though I might have dragged the whole affair out for a little too long.

The character of Munashi Kohada will not be sticking around for too long and is definitely _not_ an OC thrown into the story to pair with Naruto.

For anyone else concerned with the manner I've addressed Team Nine's lack of remorse for killing, I can assure you that I am most certainly not a sociopath, nor am I psychotic. As I've explained in a few PMs, I'm just writing the characters within the culture they've been raised. If you learn from infancy that enemies are for killing and that their lives are unimportant, you don't get too broken up about killing them. Seeing as how the ninja in the Narutoverse train their children to kill when most of would still be learning to read and write, I think I'm justified in my portrayal of the characters.

Please remember to review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/19/2012


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Twenty:

xxxx

"You're a dumbass, you know?" asked Naruto. He stood over the prone form of Hoshigaki Tetsuro with a kunai in hand. The Mist ninja's fever had broken and he was conscious once again, though bound, gagged, and chakra deprived, despite his injuries. The straw pallet serving as Tetsuro's bedding smelled of human waste, prompting Naruto to breathe through his mouth. Kohada had been tasked with caring for her former squad leader; she obviously didn't care too much about his personal hygiene.

"I mean, just look at you, man. You got almost your whole squad killed and lost your freaking arms for a weapon that doesn't exist," the blond boy laughed at the furiously glaring ninja. He and Sensei had gone over the story several times. The jounin actually made him practice his lines in front of a mirror.

Slowly, so Tetsuro could clearly see what was happening, Naruto reshaped the kunai he held, lengthening the blade further and further, stretching the steel into a single long strand of steel wire a half-dozen meters in length. It was more difficult to do with regular metal and took more chakra, but the effort was hardly outside his abilities. Animated by Naruto's chakra, the wire writhed through the air, half filling the small room Sensei appropriated to contain the injured Ninja. A single snapping motion and a great deal of concentration – Naruto did not want to accidentally chop off any of his own body parts – turned the room's only furnishing, a tiny little stool that would have collapsed it he'd tried to sit on it, into a finely diced pile of splinters.

Again slowly, Naruto retracted the wire into a kunai. "Good going, dipshit. You're crippled for life _and _you almost started a war over the word of an ignorant civilian who can't tell the difference between a Bloodline and a special weapon." Once more, Naruto reshaped the kunai, this time creating a collar identical to the on Kohada wore.

Sensei did not want to kill Kohada or Tetsuro. If they were eliminated and Hidden Mist learned of it later, regardless of the circumstances involved, there could be significant consequences. The Hyuuga incident nearly a decade prior and the ridiculous reparations Kumo managed to extract from Konoha served as an adequate example of how right and wrong didn't always make a difference in ninja politics.

The leader of Team Nine knew his youngest genin's abilities and unusual armament would eventually become known. He did not, however, want it to become common knowledge quite so soon or while him and his team was far from Konoha's influence. Thus, Naruto's current efforts at subterfuge. He wasn't supposed to come on too strong, just play it naturally. Whatever that was supposed to mean. If Sensei wanted him to be good at this shit, he should've given him acting lessons.

The improvised collar closed around the blue-skinned ninja's tensed neck, ends joining smoothly to form a single seamless ring of steel. "I can explosively sever your head now just as if I were detonating an explosive tag. The same will happen if the collar moves more than sixty meters away from me, is tampered with, or goes more than 24 hours without a chakra infusion."

xxxx

Blood spewed from Sasuke's split lips as the youngest surviving Uchiha failed to dodge the backhand swing that knocked him off his feet. Before he could rise, a knee was planted in his stomach and a kunai pressed against his carotid artery.

"Better," admitted Mizuki to the coughing boy, "but not good enough." He removed the kunai from Sasuke's throat and stood. The chuunin's silver-white hair was tied back with a bandana and the gray shirt he wore spattered with droplets of Sasuke's blood.

Sasuke grunted at the meager praise; it was as much as he ever received from the chuunin. He stumbled twice before managing to climb to his feet. "Again," the boy said, wiping blood from his mouth and chin.

Mizuki barked out a harsh laugh and spoke, "No, that is enough for today, Sasuke. Your chakra is low and the hospital closes shortly. Go have your injuries treated and rest for the night." It was amazing what the medics at the hospital would accept as a training accident or injury. Of course, this was a ninja village and there were a lot of injuries to be dealt with.

For months now, ever since learning Uzumaki Naruto of all people was already a genin, Sasuke had pushed himself beyond his limits. Few were the days he didn't limp away from training with a minor case of chakra exhaustion and muscles protesting every step he took. His hands were blistered more often than not, a combination of relentless weapons practice and overexposure to repeated fire-natured ninjutsu, and they ached constantly from hours spent pounding on training dummies. If he had any way to avoid the time wasted in the academy without risking his chances to graduate, Sasuke would not have gone to class at all.

The black-haired boy looked mutinous for a long moment, his red eyes, each with two comma-like tomoe equidistant from a tiny black pupil, glaring resentfully at the smiling older man. The moment passed and Sasuke's eyes reverted to their normal flat black, his chakra depleted to such an extent he was longer able to sustain his advanced Bloodline's cost. Sasuke was able to remain standing until Mizuki body flickered away from the clearing; only then did he allow himself to collapse in an exhausted heap. It was a small victory to hide his weakness from the sadistic chuunin.

Four weeks into personal tutoring with Touji Mizuki, Iruka's new teaching assistant at the academy, had resulted in more improvement than the previous three months combined. He was stronger, faster, and his chakra reserves were growing more quickly than at any other time. The training was beyond brutal, shedding blood and breaking bones on a near daily basis, but it accomplished what years of futile struggle had not. Sasuke's sharingan had been awakened. Overnight, Sasuke's threat level had skyrocketed. He'd learned seventeen new ninjutsu techniques in the past two weeks, though his chakra reserves and fire affinity currently precluded him from using twelve of them.

Accepting the chuunin's tentative offer of private instruction was well worth the pain. He was growing strong.

xxxx

Finding Mist's representative in Sea Country was easier than Naruto was expecting. According to Kohada, her village actually maintained a small garrison of genin overseen by a chuunin supervisor in the island's main port city. This allowed the populace of Sea Country to hire Mist ninja for minor missions that did not warrant a long sea journey to Water Country. The genin were rotated out frequently and often served as additional guards for the weekly shipments of gold paid to Hidden Mist by the leaders of Sea Country. It was a protection racket in all but name, extorting far more from the island nation than the minimal services provided were worth.

Team Nine, with the exception of Neji who was scoping out the docks in case a ship arrived that would be returning to the mainland any time soon, was escorting their captives to the Mist garrison compound. Under different circumstances, Naruto would have liked to have a few days to explore the port city. It was considerably larger than Kitayama and there were all sorts of odd and interesting sites to be seen. In ten minutes of walking, the boy had heard at least three foreign languages, a dozen new dialects of his own language, and seen people from far beyond the Elemental Nations. He'd just seen an elephant! One of Sensei's books insisted the species was extinct and his own eyes just proved otherwise!

He would have to play tourist another day, though. Sensei wanted to rid them of their unexpected burden and return to Fire Country as quickly as possible. There was much that needed to be reported to the Hokage.

"Did you see the-?"

"Yes, Naruto, for the third time, I saw the elephant," answered Tenten with a long sigh. "It was very impressive; almost as large as the bears in the Forest of Death are said to grow."

"Hmph!" was Naruto's less than articulate response. "You're no fun, Tenten."

From his position at the front of their little procession, Hoshigaki Tetsuro made a gurgling sound and managed to leak a small amount of killing intent, even though his tenketsu were soundly blocked. Truncated arms bound to his torso and his legs hobbled with a clever cat's cradle of ninja wire, the crippled Mist ninja could only take short mincing steps or risk the razor-edged wire cutting deeply into his legs. The mask-like gag strapped over half his face looked more like something you'd use to muzzle a dog; they were taking no chances with that mouth full of shark's teeth. Munashi Kohada walked by his side, unbound to the naked eye, but her tenketsu were just as restricted as Tetsuro's. Both wore the explosive collars crafted by Naruto.

"I believe he's expressing the disgust he feels to have been defeated by a child," volunteered Kohada. The female chuunin was friendly in an uncomfortably deferential way. Naruto got the feeling she was trying very hard to give Sensei no reason to go back to the flaying option.

The boy shrugged. "That's fine. Tall, blue, and stumpy can be as disgusted as he wants as long as he remembers he started that fight."

"Naruto, have we not discussed unnecessary provocation?" Sensei interjected as Tetsuro's killing intent continued to leak out. He was gonna let Neji know he'd either botched some jyuken strikes when resealing Tetsuro or that maybe there was some way to circumvent the Hyuuga's technique, if just barely.

Naruto nodded and remained silent for the rest of the trip to the Mist garrison.

xxxx

A Mist genin, between fourteen and fifteen years old with black hair, glasses, and a touch of acne, stood guard at the main entranceway into the small compound housing the garrison. The boy's eyes widened and a hand drifted towards one of a pair of short swords strapped across his back as Ebisu and his genin led their captives up the cobblestone-paved path on the outskirts of the city. The wall surrounding the compound was maybe four meters high, no impediment to any ninja worth the name, but more than enough to keep out most civilians.

Staring at the grievously wounded yet still restrained Tetsuro, the genin demanded, "State your business, ninja of Konoha!" Though unsheathed, his hand was wrapped firmly around the hilt of his sword.

Ebisu stepped forward and introduced himself, "I am Kunugi Ebisu, a jounin of Konoha. I must speak with your chuunin commander regarding the disposition of surviving Mist ninja captured during an illegal naval assault perpetrated en route to Sea Country."

Before the genin could respond, another ninja, this time wearing a Mist-style chuunin flak vest body flickered to his side. In his late teens or early twenties, the young man wore a partial face mask not unlike the type favored by Hatake Kakashi and kept his long blue hair in a topknot style pony tail. Either their approach had been noticed by an unseen observer or someone inside the compound detected foreign chakra presences at the gate.

"Kohada!" cried the chuunin, taking a single step forward before taking notice of Tetsuro's state. Without hand signs or verbal incantation, a whip of water formed in the chuunin's right hand; an impressive example chakra nature and shape manipulation.

"Big brother, stop!" Kohada spread her arms wide and intercepted her brother's advance. Ebisu was grateful Naruto hadn't interpreted the chuunin as enough threat to detonate the collars prematurely. His genin had, however, armed themselves, Tenten with her short sword and Naruto a pair of kunai. "They're just here to turn us over to the village," she insisted sincerely.

"What the hell is going on?" The chuunin, now revealed to be Kohada's older brother, demanded. Ebisu didn't see much family resemblance. The captured girl had neglected to inform him that her brother was the chuunin in charge of the garrison. If she had known. If they were even related. No matter. Perhaps it was a Mist convention or doctrine he was not aware of. Or he really was just reading too much into a simple situation. That happened occasionally when dealing with other ninja.

Giving the signal for his genin to put away their weapons, Ebisu gave a modified version of his initial introduction to the gate guard. "I am Kunugi Ebisu, a jounin of Konoha. I relinquish into your custody the surviving Mist ninja captured during an illegal naval assault perpetrated against my team en route to Sea Country."

"It's true, Jin," confirmed Kohada. "Squad Leader Hoshigaki went rogue and forced us to help."

Ebisu raised an eyebrow at the 'forced us to help' comment, but held his tongue. An implied threat isn't quite the same thing as overt force, though it was close enough that he wouldn't make an issue of it.

"Damned freak of nature," Jin muttered, finally releasing his whip; it formed a small puddle as the water lost cohesion. He glared at Tetsuro who just gurgled back from behind his gag, still leaking killing intent.

xxxx

"You can remove the collars now, Naruto," said Sensei. Four more Mist genin had joined Jin at the gate. They were armed and ready for combat, but their weapons were not currently at hand.

Naruto complied with the order, giving the mental command that dissolved the steel collars around Kohada's and Tetsuro's necks into clouds of metallic dust. He was curious if the blue Mist ninja, reduced as he was, would make any hostile moves without the collar or if Kohada's brother would order his forces to attack Team Nine. That would be a once in a lifetime mistake.

Sensei retrieved a small scroll from his vest and gave it to Kohada's brother. "Hoshigaki Tetsuro's arms are sealed within, preserved using a standard stasis array. The nature of his wounds may allow a skilled medical ninja to reattach them if the Mizukage deems it appropriate." The chuunin did not appear enthused to learn what he held in his hand. Judging from the glare he'd leveled at Tetsuro and the 'freak' comment, he was probably figuring out when would be the best time to burn the scroll.

Wondering when Sensei had sealed the arms and how a 'standard' stasis seal differed from what he used to maintain the freshness of his sealed ramen, Naruto watched Tetsuro stare at the storage scroll. Though the man was likely to face execution upon returning to his home village, that small scroll held his only hope for ever returning to active duty as a ninja, or even just living a semi-normal life.

"Tetsuro's and Kohada's tenketsu are currently blocked and should remain so for the next seven to nine hours, after which they will regain full use of their chakra."

"Thank you, sir." Jin had his arm around Kohada's shoulder. Seeing the brother and sister together, Naruto was glad they hadn't needed to kill the older girl.

"I must also inform you that duplicates of Munashi Kohada's and Iwana Kamimiri's testimony will be sent to the Daimyos of Fire, Tea, Sea, and Water Country, as well as the Mizukage of Hidden Mist. Hoshigaki Tetsuro refused to confess to his crimes." Once Sensei extracted everything he could from Team Nine's former client, the fat bastard's throat had been slit and his body tossed overboard like the garbage he was. Tetsuro had not been interrogated because it was unnecessary at this point and could prove fatal given his other injuries. "It will be noted that Kohada's cooperation with Konoha forces helped to avert what could have otherwise been a much more severe conflict between our nations." Iwana's testimony wouldn't quite be a true duplicate, either. Some information was best kept close to the vest for now.

xxxx

"The Floundering Otter sails for Degarashi Port with the evening tide, Sensei," announced Neji upon their return to the docks.

"Were you able to discover how much passage would cost, Neji?"

Naruto hoped the cost of taking a ship back to the mainland didn't come out of his mission pay.

"The captain is willing to forego payment if we agree to provide security while the vessel is at sea," answered Neji.

"Can't do much better than free. Nice going, Neji!" Naruto cheered. What were the chances another group of pirates would attack Team Nine before they could get home?

xxxx

A/N: Hey look, we had a short visit with Sasuke after all! Team Nine will finally be returning to Konoha soon, their first C-Rank mission something of a success, even if the client didn't actually survive the trip. Reader response has been really great, especially the last few chapters. Thanks, ya'll. ^_^

For that one anonymous reviewer who thinks Naruto is too weak in this story, I have nothing to say. Seriously.

Please remember to review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/20/2012


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Twenty One:

xxxx

Naruto puffed out his cheeks and pouted at the smoldering remains of the pirate vessel that had attempted to accost the Floundering Otter. It turned out that there was a pretty decent chance of Team Nine being attacked by another group of pirates before making it to the mainland.

"You guys just want to call it a tie?" he asked Neji and Tenten. "There's no way we can figure out who should get credit for that."

Tenten had struck the first blow against the pirate ship with her Storm Lance, obliterating the wheelhouse and making a mess of the deck; she'd learned from the accidental destruction of the one on the Lady Luck that its loss really played havoc with a captain's ability to control his ship. After removing the ship's ability to steer, all three genin contributed to the rain of explosive kunai that reduced the vessel to a floating pile of debris and body parts.

The bun-haired girl shrugged. "I don't think we ever did decide on what the winner would get."

Huh, that might have been a small oversight. "Bragging rights?"

"Are worthless in the grand scheme of things," answered Neji.

"Besides, we've got plenty of brag about," said Tenten with a grin. "Like I told you last week, Naruto, we stomped a chuunin squad and their jounin leader. And look what we did to those pirates. They never even knew what hit them."

"It is a shame you three made no effort to capture this latest batch of pirates," Sensei added, having allowed them free reign to deal with the approaching vessel as they saw fit. "Barring capture, identifiable corpses would have also been helpful. Now you will not be able to claim any bounties the crew of that vessel may have accumulated."

Damnit.

xxxx

Team Nine's return to Konoha proceeded far more quickly than the first leg of their mission. Even taking into account the four day voyage from Sea Country to Tea Country's Degarashi Port, the steady but manageable pace Sensei set for the team had the village gates in sight on the eleventh afternoon after turning over custody of Tetsuro and Kohada to Jin at the now distant Mist garrison. They could have arrived hours earlier if not for the small detour back over the Shattered Steel Mountains to finish removing the remains of the rock fall that halted their progress so many weeks prior. Naruto would have dragooned Neji into helping him explore the ruins buried beneath the mountain range if not for Sensei's insistence they return to Konoha to report.

"I can't decide what I want to do first," Naruto rambled. "Ichiraku's, a shower, sleeping in a bed, hanging out with the Old Man…"

The genin and their jounin commander waited, with varying degrees of patience and decorum, to be checked back into the village. It was first come first serve as far as the chuunin on gate duty were concerned, and the merchant caravan they now waited behind had arrived first.

"Standard procedure for a long duration C-Rank mission would be to file a mission summary and debrief with the chuunin currently overseeing mission assignments," Sensei pointed out. "The extraordinary circumstances of our mission, however, warrant a face to face debriefing with Hokage-sama."

Visiting the Old Man it was then.

xxxx

"Yo, Old Man!" shouted Naruto, waving enthusiastically. Alongside his fellow genin, with Ebisu in the rear, the boy hurried into the Hokage's office.

"Hokage-sama," said Ebisu with a short bow, his older genin mimicking him.

Ever since his crystal ball started chirping and pulsing with a bright orange light, a reaction to one of the seals imbedded in Naruto's coat, Hiruzen had been waiting for the genin's arrival. The entirety of Team Nine accompanying Naruto was somewhat unexpected. "Welcome home, children, Ebisu," said the Sandaime Hokage, smiling gently at the gathered ninja. "Should I assume from your visit so soon after returning to Konoha that the mission was unusually eventful?" Ebisu was a stickler for protocol. If Team Nine's first C-Rank mission had proceeded as planned, he and his genin would be filing reports right now in one of the offices several floors below.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," answered Ebisu.

Ebisu went on to detail the pertinent events of the mission. Naruto's accidental destruction of several acres of woodland earned the boy a bemused look from Hiruzen. Far be it from him to usurp Ebisu's authority as an instructor, but he thought it might be prudent to take Naruto aside and give him some pointers on handling that rod of chakra conductive iron. His own use of Enma in the Monkey King's staff form gave Hiruzen a unique insight into wielding a highly malleable weapon.

The description given by Ebisu of the sizable blockage rendering the only route through the Shattered Steel Mountains impassable and its complete removal by Team Nine earned his agreement with the jounin's recommendation for a supplementary B-Rank mission. Winter, if the season could even be called such in the southern Elemental Nations, would be passing soon and with the arrival of spring came a great deal of merchant traffic to and from Tea Country's numerous ports. The mission could be paid from the discretionary fund allocated by the Fire Daimyo; there were many non-combat missions Konoha ninja undertook simply to maintain the infrastructure of Fire Country. The appropriate ninjutsu for a situation could be substituted for the work of hundreds of civilians.

A long, lazy tour of fishing villages in southern Fire Country and all along the coast of Tea Country fit into the mission parameters perfectly. The subsequent nighttime ambush by Mist ninja en route to Sea Country most certainly did not.

"With no Bingo Book entry as reference, I believe Hoshigaki Tetsuro would under most circumstances rate a combat level of mid-to-high B-Rank, Hokage-sama. The ocean environment raised his effective threat to that of a lower rung A-Rank ninja. His subordinates appear to have run the gamut from low-to-high C-Rank effectiveness…"

Destruction of three commandeered pirate vessels, along with their crews, the elimination of six Mist chuunin and capture of two more, one of whom was a dangerous jounin, spoke most highly of a young genin team, even one supported by their jounin commander.

Betrayal by their client and hopefully avoiding a diplomatic incident with a volatile foreign power, one of the so-called Great Five kage-level ninja villages, was just icing on Team Nine's cake. Destruction of a single pirate vessel, this time crewed entirely by civilians, on their return trip was hardly worth mentioning in comparison to the events preceding arrival in Sea Country.

Ebisu stepped forward and retrieved a scroll from his vest. "Sealed within, sir, are the remains of six of the seven deceased Mist ninja. Their intact forehead protectors and any equipment that could be salvaged are contained within a separate storage array."

Hiruzen accepted the scroll and made a note to himself to forward it along to his Intelligence Division. The bodies would be closely inspected for Mist village secrets and tested for evidence of Bloodlines. Bloodlines were unlikely to be found, of course, given Hidden Mist's unfriendly attitude toward clans with advanced traits, but possible given that Hoshigaki himself belonged to such a clan. Authentic gear from the isolated ninja village would eventually end up in ANBU custody. There was no telling when evidence would need to be planted or another village implicated in an action that Konoha would _obviously_ never involve itself in.

The jounin handed over one last scroll. "A transcript of the confessions of Munashi Kohada and Iwana Kamamiri, Hokage-sama."

Copies would need to be made and stamped with his seal of office for the sake of authenticity. They would be sent to several Daimyos as well as the Mizukage of Hidden Mist. There would be no question of duplicity on Konoha's part if Mist decided to retaliate for the loss of its forces.

"I find myself quite proud of Team Nine," stated Hiruzen, looking each genin in the eye and giving them a firm nod of approval. "You handled the difficulties of your mission with the aplomb and skill I would expect from ninja twice your age. Your actions are a credit to yourselves and your commander, and were the village on a wartime footing, I would be justified in granting you each a battlefield promotion to chuunin, despite your lack of overall experience." The genin virtually glowed with pride; Naruto was practically incandescent. "Alas, I fear you must remain genin for the time being." In these relatively peaceful times, with less attrition in the ranks through death, dismemberment or psychotic breakdown, promotion was not so easy to come by.

"Team Nine will receive credit and pay appropriate for the completion of a non-combat supplementary B-Rank mission for re-opening a trade route vital to Fire Country's commerce. The C-Rank mission you were originally contracted to perform will be revised to A-Rank, with suitably adjusted pay, and a commendation for exceptional service placed in each of your files." Those commendations would weigh heavily in the genin's favor when they attended their first Chuunin Exam, if they reached the final stage of the competition.

xxxx

Naruto remained behind when the others left the Old Man's office, promising Sensei he would fill out a mission report before leaving the tower.

"It's been a while, Old Man. You doing all right?" asked Naruto, now sitting across from the Hokage.

Chuckling, the Old Man answered, "I am doing as well as a man of my advanced years can expect, though I have missed your visits."

"Heh, yeah, me too! You want to go grab some ramen with me? My treat!" After getting a good look at the pay voucher written out by the Old Man and seeing a couple more zeroes than he was expecting, Naruto didn't think he'd be bumming ramen off anyone for a long time to come.

"I would like that very much, Naruto, but I fear I will be stuck behind this desk for a few hours more before I can leave for the evening. You still need to write your mission report, as well. Perhaps we can meet for lunch tomorrow?"

Naruto could manage that easily enough. They'd been given two weeks leave from missions and mandatory training, though the chances the genin of Team Nine would actually go so long without training were laughably small. "Sure thing, Old Man," he answered. "I'll see ya tomorrow!"

xxxx

"The next Chuunin Exam is to be held in Kumo in just over two months," Ebisu told his students. Team Nine was gathered in their training ground the morning after returning to Konoha. "I will not be entering Team Nine as eligible to compete."

Neji and Tenten were silent. Naruto was not. "What? How come, Sensei? We could totally kick ass in those exams!" proclaimed the blond boy.

"Do not allow your victory over the Mist ninja or Hokage-sama's kind words to give you a swelled head, Naruto. You three are indeed quite skilled for your ages, unusually so. It would not be a poor assumption to say each of you, Naruto, Tenten, Neji, could do very well in the upcoming Chuunin Exams" In a straight up combat scenario, Ebisu was confident his genin could handle themselves without issues. There was more involved in the Chuunin Exams than combat, however, and his team was so very inexperienced in too many other fields that could be tested. "There are also extenuating circumstances that I believe make Kumo a poor choice for your first Chuunin Exam."

Ebisu nodded at Neji. The Hyuuga boy's fists were clenched and he was glaring at no one in particular; understandably, Kumo was not his favorite place. "In the past, the Raikage has shown a disconcertingly brazen lust for acquiring the byakugan. It would not be wise to deliver so tempting a target directly into Kumo's hands." He would not admit it to his genin, but Ebisu wasn't entirely sure he trusted Neji not to cause an incident with Kumo. Justifiable or not, any vengeance the boy attempted to enact would reflect on Konoha.

"Unfortunately, the following Chuunin Exam is also not a viable option, as it will be hosted in Iwa." That one needed no explanation. Since the last great ninja war ended, Iwa and Konoha maintained some semblance of peace between their villages through the simple expedient of avoiding each other entirely. Iwa did not send its genin to exams hosted in Konoha, and vice versa.

"We've gotta wait _fourteen months_, more than a freaking year, before we can try to become chuunin?" Naruto cried out, horrified at the prospect of being a genin for so long.

"Surely there is a genin with the necessary skills that could temporarily fill my spot in Team Nine, Sensei?" Neji interjected, cutting Naruto off before the boy could get his rant up and running. "That would allow Tenten and Naruto to participate in the Kumo Chuunin Exam."

Proud of Neji's willingness to sacrifice for the sake of his teammates, Ebisu was about to shut down that option – he simply did not feel Team Nine was ready for the Chuunin Exam – but Naruto beat him to it. "Screw that, Neji!"

"I'm right there with you, Naruto. Screw that!" Tenten reiterated. "Team Nine sticks together. We're not just going to leave Neji here in Konoha while we try to drag some crappy substitute genin along through the exams."

Ebisu allowed himself a small, tight smile. Choosing to take on this team had most definitely not been a mistake. "That is very good to hear, my students. There is a great deal to learn in the next fourteen months while we wait for the next available exam after Iwa's. That particular Chuunin Exam will be taking place in Konoha. Participating in your first Chuunin Exam in your home village will be ideal."

"'First Chuunin Exam'?" Naruto repeated. "Sensei, you make it sound like we'll need more than one to get promoted."

Tenten snickered and even Neji's angst-ridden stare lost some of its heat.

"I would be pleasantly surprised if each of you were promoted in your first Chuunin Exam. Most genin, however, require several attempts before being promoted. Even winning the final tournament round of the competition itself is not guaranteed to earn a promotion. You must display more than mere combat prowess to earn the judges' favor in order to become a chuunin. Many skills can be tested during the exam; intelligence gathering, tactical planning, leadership, and more."

Naruto crossed his arms and announced. "Fine, whatever. No Chuunin Exams in Kumo, since they might try to scoop out Neji's eyeballs, and Iwa is out because they're a bunch of assholes, but you better believe we're gonna make one hell of a first impression when the exam comes to Konoha!"

"Hell yeah!" agreed Tenten and Neji nodded.

xxxx

"Can I get ten bowls of miso ramen to go, Ayame?" asked Naruto. It was time to begin renewing his stockpile. He could definitely afford it now. That reminded him, he needed to restock his supply of disposable ranged weaponry as well.

"You got it, Naruto." The serving girl bustled off to fulfill his order.

"You were saying?" prompted the Hokage.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that, Old Man," Naruto apologized. "I just wanted to catch Ayame before she went into the back. Anyway, I was wondering if I could have some more of that chakra iron you've been saving for me."

"Really?" asked the Old Man with raised eyebrows. "For what purposes do you need more?"

"At first I figured I'd use some of the iron to have weapons made for Neji and Tenten's birthdays, but then Sensei started talking about the Chuunin Exams, even if we can't enter one for over a year." That sucked. Sensei's reasoning was sound enough, but it still sucked. Neji's offer to hang back so he and Tenten could go to the Kumo exam was pretty cool, if unusually stupid for the Hyuuga boy. Like they'd just leave him behind. "I really want Team Nine to kick ass and making sure my teammates have the best weapons they can get would help out."

"Have you found a weapon smith capable of producing weapons properly alloyed with chakra iron? It's a very rare skill."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and grinned. "I was hoping you could help out with that, too. As old as you are, I figured you could probably recommend someone."

The Old Man's cheek twitched. "I suppose I could dredge up a name or two from what remains of my tired old mind," came the deadpan reply.

"Awesome!"

"And how do you intend to finance the creation of these chakra weapons, Naruto? I can assure you, they will not be cheap."

Ha, he already had that one covered. "What if I just let the smith have some extra chakra iron to cover the cost?"

Ayame's return momentarily interrupted the conversation. Naruto paid the girl for his and the Hokage's meal and the takeout order. It took only a couple seconds to store the ramen away.

"It seems you've got most of the angles covered, Naruto," the Old Man confessed. Yeah, he was awesome like that! "Have you spoken with Neji and Tenten about these weapons you wish to have produced for them?"

"No way, Old Man!" shouted Naruto, shaking his head in the negative. "I want them to be a surprise!"

That earned him a smile and a pat on the head. He wished the Old Man wouldn't do that, he wasn't a kid anymore! Naruto didn't have the heart to tell the Hokage to stop, though. "While that is very thoughtful of you, Naruto, your concern is misplaced. I believe your teammates will be quite surprised that you are commissioning chakra weapons for them. Such creations are incredibly valuable, however, and should reflect the personalities and preferences of their wielders. Don't you think it would be best to ask for input from Neji and Tenten in their creation? You wouldn't want either of them to have a less than ideal weapon, would you?"

"Ah, when you put it like that, it makes a lot of sense, Old Man!"

xxxx

A/N: That concludes the C-Rank mission arc. The next two or three chapters will begin skipping large blocks of time, covering most of the next fourteen months to bring the story in line with the canon series' timeline.

Please remember to review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/21/2012


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Twenty Two:

xxxx

Surrounded on all sides by a mercenary army hired by the client's insane father-in-law, Naruto paused in his slaughter for a moment, casting about with his senses to determine the locations of his teammates. His senses were not so well developed that this would normally be possible, but each member of Team Nine wore an iron medallion imprinted with a tracking seal and imbued with his chakra. Separated from one another by the initial onslaught of a charging army backed by several genin and chuunin level missing ninja, the genin of Team Nine each fought their own battles now, singled out by enemy ninja and the civilian mercenaries supporting them. Sensei was in the nearby mansion, dealing with the target and his elite bodyguards. None of his friends was within range. Good.

He detonated the trio of iron clones standing around him, directing the concussive force and shrapnel from the blasts to only explode outward. The shaped explosions cleared a dozen nearby mercenaries and further desecrated the corpse of Naruto's chuunin opponent. The head was already sealed away, in case there was a bounty for the green haired woman.

"Iron Release: Cauldron of the Underworld!" Naruto announced, slamming his metal-sheathed hands palm first into the blood-soaked ground at his feet. He ignored the stinging sensation caused by blood coming into prolonged contact with his iron. It was harmless and immaterial to this fight.

As he stood tall once more and created flanking clones to replace those he'd used to gain breathing room, the earth beneath Naruto's feet rippled like a still pond's surface disturbed by a thrown pebble. It was not a violent wave, barely disturbing the footing of the approaching mercenaries. The leading edge of armed men scoffed at the apparently failed ninjutsu technique.

The transition from firm rocky soil to lake of molten iron took place in less than a second. Most of the men had not even enough time to be horrified by their fate. Engulfed by molten iron, their nerves instantly flash fried, those on foot died in moments. The unfortunate few on horseback, rogue samurai directing their men in battle, generated most of the screaming. The newly formed lake was not so deep as to completely swallow man and mount alike. It took several second for these to fully succumb and sink beneath the surface.

The technique ended as abruptly as it began, though there was a snapping sound not unlike breaking glass as the molten lake instantly solidified.

Beyond an untouched circle of earth about five meters or so in diameter with Naruto and his clones at the center, a wasteland of fractured volcanic glass extended over two hundred meters in all directions. The army no longer existed.

"Youch, that's hot!" Naruto shouted, waving his hands and trying to blow ineffectually on the seals imprinted into his palms, each array glowing cherry red. Putting chakra into the technique was so much easier than removing the heat from it once it had served its purpose.

xxxx

Tenten panted for breath, wiping away the blood leaking down the left side of her face from the gash in her scalp, lest it foul her field of vision. In her right hand, a black-bladed long sword danced with so much writhing lightning chakra that her hair crackled with static electricity and the air itself tasted bitter.

She'd given up on using her lightning ninjutsu; what her opponent could not dodge, he simply ignored, the not quite invisible shroud of wind chakra rendering her favored Storm Lance's secondary thunder effect useless.

"I am impressed by your skill, Leaf ninja," the missing ninja from Suna, if his forehead protector was genuine, admitted from his perch on a nearby tree branch. The partial face wrappings and darkly tinted goggles made it difficult to tell, but she thought the ninja was only a few years older than her. "I have felled unprepared jounin with my speed." He dodged an exploding kunai with little effort.

She wasn't sure how he was doing it, but Tenten had determined the ninja was using wind chakra to dramatically increase his physical speed. It appeared to be a finite technique. After several nearly overwhelming attacks, the speed of each seeming almost to mimic a body flicker, he would pull back for a few moments and attempt to distract her with banter or a quick volley of shuriken. If she could just work out the timing between his attack and recharge periods…

He would be attacking any moment now. Elemental advantage or not, her enemy would not survive three feet of steel rammed through his heart.

Tenten detonated thirty five explosive kunai and over one hundred multi-colored smoke bombs she'd planted throughout the clearing and the innermost trees surrounding it. She didn't count on them taking the Suna ninja down, they were just a distraction. Each attack cycle she survived brought her that much closer to learning her enemy's rhythm.

xxxx

"I know of your clan, boy," grated the massively armored figure Neji faced. Before the battle began in earnest, his enemy had the look of a decidedly average man. Neither young nor old, middling height, brown eyes and black hair, with no distinguishing features or characteristics, he could have blended into a crowd in just about any city in the Elemental Nations without drawing notice. Giving orders to the mercenary scum under his command, he was soft spoken with a vaguely rural accent. Now, the ninja stood over four meters in height, encased within an armored shell of jagged stone animated and reinforced by a massive quantity of earth-natured chakra. This was a Yamabushi Bloodline variant of an earth ninjutsu technique Neji was familiar with but had not yet learned.

It had been a passing inconvenience to eliminate the civilian thugs that accompanied the rogue ninja from Iwa. They were not even worthy of target practice for his jyuken. The Iwa ninja was proving more of a challenge. All things considered, Tenten would have fared much better against Neji's current opponent. The Hyuuga boy's earth ninjutsu was powerful and his control exceptional, yet they were less than useless in this situation. The enemy ninja's Bloodline almost entirely negated his ninjutsu arsenal, either dispersing or subverting his techniques; he walked through barriers of stone, dissolving them in the process, took control of the impaling spikes the rose from the earth below, forcing Neji to avoid his own creations, and simply manhandled the boulders launched his way, swatting them from the sky. Within his armor, this ninja was physically stronger than Naruto by an order of magnitude.

"Those dead eyes of yours can see my tenketsu even through my clan's Flesh of the Earth, but can you reach them with that silly little tap-tap-tap style your clan uses?" Neji supposed the cracking and shattering sounds that followed the taunt were the man's version of laughter.

It was a good question, actually. Neji was certain there were no Hyuuga in existence that could, unaided, project a spike of chakra through that much chakra-infused stone, let alone do so with enough force and accuracy to affect a target's tenketsu. A Hyuuga would be lucky to tickle an armored Yamabushi with their jyuken. The Yamabushi clan's Flesh of the Earth armor granted extreme physical power and almost unrivaled resilience, along with virtual immunity to earth ninjutsu and a host of other elemental techniques, but it did not improve speed. If anything, it slowed the ninja using it down and dulled their reaction times.

Slowed or not, Neji would have been forced to flee from the rogue Yamabushi if not for a single salient fact:

His jyuken was no longer 'unaided'. A tiny sphere of chakra swirled within a small ring of iron that rested against the Hyuuga boy's palms, fine chains of that same iron connecting the ring to another on his thumb, index, and pinky fingers, and then extending to the master control bracelets on his wrists, each engraved with numerous tiny seals only clearly visible using magnifying lenses or the byakugan.

xxxx

Drawn by the latest series of explosions and the mostly dissipated rainbow of drifting smoke, Naruto leapt into the clearing, iron clones at his side. He arrived just in time to see Tenten wrench her sword from the chest of a downed ninja. The goggles-wearing young man was missing most of his legs from the knees down and the rest of his lower body was so much shredded meat. Blood ran down the left side of Tenten's face.

Naruto body flickered to her side. "You all right?" he asked.

"It's just a scratch, Naruto. Scalp wounds always bleed a lot." She pressed a wad of bandages against the bleeding gash with a slight wince.

Remembering his old goggles lost in the explosion that changed his life so drastically, Naruto removed those worn by the still warm corpse and sealed them away. He'd try them on later. Tenten wasn't likely to mind that he'd just looted her kill.

"You want me to," Naruto wiggled his fingers and they lit up with unnaturally dark green medical chakra, "give it a shot?" At Sensei's insistence, all of Team Nine were learning medical ninjutsu, though some were more successful than others. Neji excelled at the art, while Tenten was slowly improving. She just didn't trust her skills enough to attempt to work on her own wounds. Naruto's attempts were better left unmentioned.

Tenten laughed. "Yeah, right, Naruto. Once you stop exploding the fish you try to heal, maybe I'll think about letting you try to work on the next paper cut I get. Let's find Neji and have him take care of it."

"The last one didn't explode at all!" Naruto responded with a mock pout.

"Melt, explode, whatever."

"Fine, fine. Just give me a second to put this guy in a storage scroll and let's go find Neji. Sensei is probably done with the assassination already."

xxxx

"Im-impossible!" The armored ninja's gravelly voice gasped. Entire sections of the armor began peeling away, others crumbling to dust, as the Yamabushi ninja's chakra system failed along with his ruined heart. Within seconds, the plain looking rogue ninja laid amid a pile of broken stone, weakly coughing up blood.

Standing over his fatally injured opponent, Neji said, "Despite your formidable Bloodline, it has forever been your fate to die by my hand. Go now into the afterlife, satisfied with the knowledge that your destiny has been fulfilled." The life faded from the prone ninja's eyes and to Neji's byakugan, his chakra began to bleed away into the earth below.

Neji twisted his chakra _just so_ as he'd learned, causing the jewelry-like rings and their connecting chains adorning his hands to withdraw into the seamless bracelets he wore. He had barely scratched the surface of what the chakra foci were capable of when combined with the pinpoint control of his jyuken. Extending the range of his strikes by at least twenty four centimeters was the least of their potential.

Byakugan still active, Neji saw the approach of his teammates well before they exited the forest. He sealed the corpse of his opponent and hurried to meet them.

xxxx

"Mission accomplished, students." Their jounin commander looked uninjured, the blood spattered across his flak vest belonging to the target or a body guard. Behind Sensei, the palatial mansion was aflame, pouring smoke and embers into the otherwise clear blue sky. A secondary objective of the mission had been to destroy their target's holdings and scatter his retainers. The last of the 'holdings' would be nothing but ash and debris soon enough and the 'retainers' weren't so much scattered as dismembered. "Your opponents?"

"Neutralized, Sensei," answered Neji. His hands were surrounded with the soft green glow of medical chakra as he healed Tenten's minor injury, the only damage of note the members of Team Nine had received.

Team Nine had not undertaken a D-Ranked mission since returning from their first C- turned A-Rank outside of the village. With the completion of this retaliatory assassination contract, their mission tally rose to nine D-Ranks, seventeen C-Ranks, nine B-Ranks, and that lone A-Rank. It was an impressive, if highly lopsided history for a genin team with a little less than a year of experience under its belt.

xxxx

Team Nine was taking a rare day off from training and Naruto was using the opportunity to hang out with Shikamaru and Chouji. He'd been unable to track Kiba and Akamaru down.

All three boys were lazing about, staring up at the puffy white clouds slowly passing overhead.

"Ya'll ready for graduation? It's next week, right?" Naruto asked.

Chouji mumbled a quick 'Yep!' in between crunching on a handful of chips. Shikamaru's sigh was long and drawn out for maximum dramatic effect. "You sound like graduation is supposed to be a good thing, Naruto," the Nara boy complained.

"Don't be such a lazy ass, Shikamaru! You can learn a lot cool stuff from a good jounin and the ryo really starts to add up when you get to the C-Rank missions." Naruto would never have imagined his bank account could grow so large so quickly. With Sensei not letting him pay rent and his ability to replace lost weaponry with otherwise worthless scrap metal, his only real expenses were ramen and the sealing supplies he used to continue his studies in that complex art.

"He's mad we're gonna be on a team with Ino," Chouji laughed. "And he knows his mom would murder him if he fails the graduation exam."

"You're sure they're putting together another Ino-Shika-Cho team?" The Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans had been close allies for centuries, long before the formation of the ninja villages. There was a long tradition of the clans forming teams, with each member's strength supplementing the weakness of their companions. It was a tried and true formation that had seen undeniable successes in three wars and innumerable skirmishes.

Shikamaru snorted at the admittedly stupid question. "Are you kidding, Naruto? Our parents each arranged our conceptions so that we'd all be born in the same year for just this occasion. Do you have any idea how creepy that is?"

"Don't you think it's worked out well, though? You and Chouji got to grow up together as best friends. That's pretty cool," insisted Naruto.

"He's mostly whining because of Ino," Chouji added knowingly while pulling out another bag of chips.

"Troublesome blond harpy," the Nara muttered. "Why couldn't Uncle Inoichi have fathered a son instead?"

"Well, it's too late now. You're stuck with her," Naruto laughed. "You might as well just try to stay on her good side."

"If she had one…"

xxxx

"Congratulations on finally becoming a genin, Sasuke!"

The young Uchiha, his new forehead protector nowhere in sight, grunted unhappily at Mizuki's unusually cheerful tone. "If that's all it takes to become a genin, I should have been promoted years ago." The graduation requirements were pathetic. Sasuke knew how team placement worked, in the barest sense, from discussions with Mizuki. He was the Rookie of the Year, which meant he'd be placed with the highest scoring female from the class and the worst scoring student to still manage to pass. If he was stuck with the screeching menace of Sakura and that loser Fuki, Sasuke wasn't sure if he could be held accountable for his actions.

"Now, Sasuke, you know there are very good reasons that early promotion has become so rare in Konoha," responded Mizuki. Yeah, he knew. One of those reasons was his monster of a brother. The Hokage's professed fear that placing the burdens of a ninja on one too young had led to the Uchiha massacre. It was like his brother was acting even now to hold him back, keeping him from growing strong enough to seek revenge.

Tired of useless talk, Sasuke dropped into a ready stance and prepared for the inevitable attack. Mizuki would not be here if he was not prepared to train him further.

The chuunin shook his head. "Today is not for training, Sasuke. I've come with a very special offer for you."

Sasuke relaxed and waited for the man to continue. Would he be receiving more advanced training?

"As Rookie of the Year, Sasuke, you have earned an opportunity to participate in a secret test. None have succeeded in the past four years since it's been offered. If you do, however, you will receive immediate promotion to chuunin." Mizuki grinned at his expression of wide-eyed surprise.

Four years? That would roughly coincide with Itachi's betrayal. Was this some sort of consolation prize? Another test made available to the best ninja graduate each year to make up for being held back for so long? As a chuunin, he could avoid being partnered with his useless classmates entirely. Hell, by the time any of them made chuunin, if they ever did, he'd probably be a jounin already. It was almost too good to be true.

"What do I have to do?" He wished his voice hadn't sounded so pathetically eager.

xxxx

A/N: That rascal Mizuki! ^_^

Here's a tidbit of knowledge for everyone that is an unknown or forgotten fact in the _Iron Soul_ continuity: Chakra conductive iron is not a naturally occurring element. It can only be found within the blood of a human or other chakra using creature. What's been seen in the story so far was gathered through unknown practices centuries prior. Think about that for a bit and consider possibilities.

This was the largest time skip we'll see in the story until making the leap into the Shippuuden era. Canon series graduation means that the Chuunin Exam is only six months or so away. Much fun will be had by all. I've incorporated several ideas from reviewers into this chapter. If you gave me the idea or your recommendations coincided with my own, you should recognize your contributions.

To anonymous reviewer TJG, I wouldn't normally address a particular person in my author's notes (It's a pet peeve of mine when an author drops two thousand plus words of responses to reviews on the bottom of a chapter) but your review was so well thought out and really meshed with my own ideas and plans for the story, that I wanted to thank you. I would have sent a PM if I could. To everyone else who has reviewed, I just want to reiterate how much they are appreciated and how helpful many have been.

Published: 6/22/2012


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Twenty Three:

xxxx

"What the hell?" asked Naruto, as the village walls came into sight. The immense gates were closed. The gates were _never_ closed. He didn't even know they were actually capable of being closed, though it wouldn't make sense to leave such a large opening through the walls if you couldn't seal it off.

"This does not bode well, students." Sensei body flickered the remaining distance to the gates, prompting his genin to follow a moment later.

They were met by a pair of chuunin Naruto had seen in passing around the village, but whose names he did not know.

"Konoha is on lockdown. No one enters and no one leaves until Hokage-sama gives the all clear."

That explained the gates being closed.

"Why's the village on lockdown?" Tenten asked, voicing Naruto's own thoughts.

The spiky-haired chuunin shrugged. "I've heard a different story each time one of the patrols checks in. The Sandaime was attacked, or someone tried to steal a priceless artifact, or Uchiha Sasuke was kidnapped. Take your pick. Of course, it's probably something totally different."

The Old Man might be hurt? Gates or no gates, Naruto wasn't just going to stand by if the Hokage could be in trouble. He'd never had cause to test the story that the village walls could not be scaled by ninja using chakra. It didn't matter, though. If he couldn't go over, he'd just go under or through the walls.

Naruto had just begun to gather chakra when Sensei's hand clamped firmly down upon his shoulder. "Do not be so hasty, Naruto. Hokage-sama has not been injured. If he had, there would be more than two chuunin guarding this gate. We would have been confronted by a full ANBU squad by this point. Rest easy and allow our comrades still within the village walls to do their jobs without unneeded interference."

Reluctantly, Naruto nodded, accepting Sensei's logic. Who was he kidding, if someone was able to harm the Old Man, the God of Ninja, what chance would Naruto have to avenge him?

xxxx

"Your report, Inoichi?" asked Hiruzen, carefully not taking notice of the man's bloodshot eyes and the air of exhaustion that hung about him. Quick and dirty mind walks, even by a Yamanaka as skilled and experienced with his clan's techniques as Inoichi, took a much greater toll on the examiner than the examinee. The blond jounin would be in no mood to appreciate any concern his Hokage could show at the moment.

"It is as you initially suspected, Hokage-sama. Uchiha Sasuke did not act alone. His accomplice appears to be one Touji Mizuki, a chuunin recently transferred to the ninja academy as an assistant instructor." Hiruzen knew the name well. He had signed the transfer papers himself after the somewhat questionable circumstances involving the chuunin's last mission. There were concerns Mizuki was no longer fit for field duty. "I would need to conduct a thorough examination to give a more detailed report, sir, but the boy's most recent relevant memories suggest Mizuki has been grooming him for quite some time. As hard as it may be to believe, Sasuke thought he was being given a sanctioned test for early promotion to chuunin."

Well, that certainly changed things.

"Thank you for responding so quickly to my summons, Inoichi. Your work has once more proven vital to the village. Return home and rest now, my friend. We will speak later."

Inoichi bowed once and murmured, "By your leave, Hokage-sama." He left the room, walking through the chamber door instead of body flickering away. That was an almost refreshing change.

"Inform your colleagues in ANBU of Mizuki's complicity in the security breach, Boar," ordered Hiruzen, addressing an ANBU operative who was using a camouflage technique to hide in plain sight less than a meter from the seal-engraved platform that was keeping a grievously wounded Uchiha Sasuke alive.

Without otherwise acknowledging the command, a boar-masked ninja faded into existence, and then body flickered away. He would have just as silently decapitated the comatose boy had the order been given.

"Will he live?" he asked of the three medical ninja standing around Sasuke's comatose form. Half the Uchiha boy's body was painted with a complex seal array, its terminus centered over his heart. Focused and empowered by the array, the medical chakra glowing around each of the ninja's hands poured into Sasuke.

"Barring unforeseen complications, Hokage-sama, the patient should make a full recovery. Your blow crushed his sternum and most of his vertebrosternal ribs, collapsed both lungs, and inflicted significant trauma to his heart, in addition to numerous other broken bones and tissue damage." When the Hokage tried to punt you through a stone wall, you either dodged or became intimately acquainted with masonry. Sasuke had been unable to dodge.

"That is good news. Please let me know when his system has stabilized enough to accept a non-medically necessary seal array." Traitor or ignorant pawn, the Uchiha name remained controversial among the ninja clans of Konoha. To appease the naysayers and even more vocal elements of the ruling elite, drastic measures would have to be taken.

xxxx

"So we had to camp outside the wall last night because some asshole tried to steal a scroll?" Naruto asked incredulously. The genin looked like he'd ventured straight from his campsite to the Hokage's office.

"It wasn't just any scroll, Naruto," Hiruzen answered. "The Forbidden Scroll of Seals contains dangerous information and hazardous kinjutsu that could pose a dire threat to Konoha." Chief amongst the techniques hidden within the scroll being the method used to summon the Death God to aide in sealing the Kyuubi within Naruto.

"Ah, gotcha." The boy nodded, accepting the explanation with less fuss than he'd expected. "Speaking of seals, I've got something for ya, Old Man!" From an inner pocket of his orange coat, Naruto retrieved an object. Hiruzen made a note to himself that it was time to prepare a new coat for the boy. It had been large on the boy's twelve year old frame, but now it was getting too small for the growing blond.

"What's this, Naruto?" In his hand, Hiruzen held a small black iron pendant resembling the Uzumaki spiral. He could feel the chakra infused into the metal and the way it rubbed across his senses indicated a seal of some sort.

"I got worried about you last night when the village was on lockdown, and since I couldn't sleep for most of the night, I made that for you. It's kinda like the ones Team Nine wears, except I put a bit of chakra iron into the seal when I imprinted the array. The normal ones just act as tracking seals, but yours is special. If you ever need help, Old Man, or just want to pass me a really important message, you just gotta put some chakra into it and I'll know right away."

Hiruzen smiled, touched at Naruto's concern. He slipped the leather thong over his neck and hid the pendent within his robes. Later, when Naruto was not around, he would attempt to decompress the array or at least examine it in closer detail. It wasn't that he distrusted the boy, he was practically as much his grandson as Konohamaru, but he was still a novice when it came to the sealing arts, despite an illustrious heritage and great purported talent. It would be most unfortunate if he triggered the seal within the pendent and it blew his head off; Naruto did have something of an affinity for explosives.

"Thank you very much, Naruto. This means a great deal to me." He patted the spot under his robes where the pendent rested. "I shall cherish it always."

Naruto blushed and looked away. "Aw, it's not that big a deal. I just gotta look out for you until you can pass the hat my way!"

xxxx

Sasuke felt like he'd had a ton of bricks dropped on him after being rammed head first into the ground for five or six minutes. Even his hair seemed to ache.

"I'm afraid you will not be able to move for the next twenty four hours or so." He recognized that voice, but between the fuzziness in his head and dull ringing in his ears, could not quite make out its owner. If only he could open his eyes, it would not be an issue. "Your injuries were extensive and severe. Though healed, the recently repaired tissues are fragile and can be easily damaged. By the time the paralysis ends, the medical ninja on duty claim you should be well enough to leave the hospital."

He tried to speak, but his body would not respond to any commands he sent it. If someone blocked his nose, he would probably suffocate before managing to open his mouth to take a breath. His suffering was either caused by a lack of painkillers or his injuries were such that he felt this bad even under their effects. Narcotics would explain the almost dream-like quality of this one-sided conversation.

"I understand that you did not purposely commit treason against Konoha, Sasuke. At worst, you allowed yourself to be manipulated by Touji Mizuki. He not only outranked you, he had also been placed in a position of authority that would imply explicit trustworthiness. It is because of this that I have not already ordered your execution," continued the voice.

Only the Hokage could order the summary execution of a ninja of Konoha. The Hokage! The voice belonged to the Sandaime.

Mizuki had lied to him. There was no test for early promotion to chuunin. He remembered now, stepping into the Hokage's office, garbed in black ninja gear, sharingan blazing, on the lookout any traps waiting to activate. The wizened old man had still been in his office. The crushing blow to his chest had come so quickly that even with his sharingan, there was no forewarning. He was swallowed by all encompassing blackness.

"This incident will not, however, be without consequences for you, Sasuke. The civilian populace will, of course, know nothing of what transpired. The ninja of Konoha, specifically the clan heads and other influential individuals are already well aware. They are not as forgiving as I."

The kindly sounding old Hokage was the same man who had effortlessly smashed him aside as he would a gnat. Sasuke had no doubt the strike would have been fatal if not for the near-miraculous powers of Konoha's medical ninja. Most of a year with Mizuki as a combat instructor had seen him make many, many visits to the hospital.

"To allay fears that you may become a traitor to Konoha as your brother before you, I have taken steps to prevent that eventuality."

Damn Itachi to the coldest, darkest pits of the underworld. His murderous brother's shadow haunted him still.

"The seal will not be so permanent as the Caged Bird Seal favored by the Hyuuga clan; both myself and my most trusted student will have a key to remove it when deemed necessary."

Seal? He was being sealed? Like a member of the Hyuuga Branch family? Like a fucking slave?

"You will not be prevented from passing on your bloodline to any children you sire and your sharingan will not be destroyed upon removal as with the Caged Bird Seal. The seals are truly similar only in their location and the kill command imbedded within. You need never fear its activation so long as you remain loyal to Konoha."

That bastard Mizuki had caused this. Tricked him like some pathetic child into committing treason. He'd been only one step removed from joining Itachi among the damned.

"I look forward to the day when I can personally remove the seal from your brow, Uchiha Sasuke."

xxxx

"Touji Mizuki is without question a traitor, Hokage-sama," Morino Ibiki assured him. "We have determined that he made contact with Orochimaru shortly before being taken off active duty. I've added Inoichi's transcripts of the traitors' exchange to the full report, sir."

"Thank you, Ibiki. I will review it in its entirety later. If you could please summarize?" Of course Orochimaru would be involved somehow. His greatest failing, beyond even the constant shame of not being able to take Minato's place as the sacrifice to the Death God, was allowing his once favored student to escape when the man's crimes were brought to light.

"In short, Orochimaru did not directly recruit Mizuki into his service. He did transfer some sort of seal-based tattoo to Mizuki, along with the recipe for a formula needed to activate it." Ibiki's heavily scarred visage was never a pleasant sight to behold. It was especially chilling when the man frowned. "Mizuki's actions, both in grooming the Uchiha and the theft of the Forbidden Scroll of Seals, were part of a plan to ingratiate himself to Orochimaru in order to gain greater power."

To learn that there was such an eager acolyte of Orochimaru within the village was stomach churning. "How similar is this tattoo to the Cursed Seal Orochimaru inflicted upon Mitarashi Anko?"

"I would prefer a seal master to examine it before giving a definite answer, Hokage-sama, though from the manner of activation alone, I would assume they differ greatly." He agreed with the scarred man's assumption. Perhaps his former student was embarking on a different avenue of research? It had been quite some time since he'd placed the Cursed Seal on Anko, after all. There was no telling what the depraved man had cooked up in the depths of his twisted mind in the years since casting Anko aside.

"It just so happens that I qualify as a master of the sealing arts. While I'm here, I may as well investigate Mizuki's tattoo." Putting his sealing knowledge to use for something beyond forcefully ensuring the loyalty of a talented young genin might sooth his conscience. Hiruzen truly regretted being dishonest with the Uchiha boy.

xxxx

"Another B-Rank assassination already?" shouted Naruto, earning a glare from the chuunin at the mission desk. "We're such badasses!" Two weeks and a couple short term C-Ranks out of the way and they were already back into big payday territory.

"Will you keep it down, kid?" hissed the chuunin. Through narrowed green eyes, she cast a significant glance past Naruto and to a milling crowd of genin teams waiting for their own assignments. "Genin teams aren't technically supposed to take B-Ranks. Don't start giving the rookies any ideas. I have to listen to enough whining about D-Ranks."

Remembering well his own complaints about the few D-Rank missions Team Nine had accepted, Naruto winced and gave a small nod of acknowledgement. "Sorry about that," he whispered.

She gave a curt nod and hurriedly finished the paperwork assigning the client's contract to Team Nine's purview.

As the team walked away, Tenten nudged Naruto and whispered, "Looks like you've earned another fan."

Naruto rolled his eyes and grinned.

ARF! ARF!

The barking of a familiar ninja puppy drew the blond boy's attention before he could respond to Tenten. "Hey, buddy, what's happening?" With his focus now on Akamaru, Naruto began picking out familiar faces among the gathered teams nearby. He slowed, allowing his teammates and Sensei to pull ahead.

ARF! ARF! ARF!

"Haha, nice. You just gotta keep him straight for a few more years and you're set." Naruto would have liked to hang around and talk to his friends, but there were far more faces he couldn't place or had just forgotten, along with several jounin he'd never seen before. It would be weird and awkward.

"Screw you, Naruto!" exclaimed Kiba. "Akamaru, you traitor."

Thankfully, he had a good excuse to cut and run. "Sorry, guys, I gotta get ready for a mission. I'll catch up with ya'll later!" Shikamaru didn't respond, probably because he appeared to have levered himself against the wall and dozed off. Chouji waved and Kiba made a rude gesture. The rest of the genin were a mixed bag. Some glared, others just stared in confusion, while a few were trying to figure out what the ninja puppy had told the blond kid about the Inuzuka.

xxxx

"Did I just hear that idiot Naruto say they were getting _another_ B-Rank assassination mission?" Fuki asked.

If anyone listened closely, they may have been able to hear Sasuke's teeth grinding.

"That's impossible," Sakura declared. "Genin are only ever assigned D- and C-Rank missions. Isn't that right, Sensei?"

Thoroughly engrossed in his little orange book, Hatake Kakashi didn't respond to the pink-haired girl's question.

xxxx

"We've not been to Wind Country yet," Tenten said as she read through the mission parameters. "We should stop by my parents' shop for desert gear."

In the course of their travels throughout the Elemental Nations, they'd experienced just about every climate the continent had to offer, except for the deserts of Wind Country and the ice-shrouded chill of the far north.

"I would recommend purchasing extra canteens and if you do not already have a pair, goggles to block the sun's glare and blowing sand can make the difference between relative comfort and unrelenting misery when traveling in Wind Country," added Sensei. "Water will be at a premium. Store as much as you can without compromising your standard equipment loadout."

"I'll cover that," Naruto volunteered. His armor-based storage seals had greater capacity than the arrays inked on scrolls and were basically indestructible unless Naruto himself met his demise.

"Much of Wind Country is infested with venomous scorpions of varying potency. Each of you should confirm that the anti-venom ampoules in your field kits are intact and the contents not expired."

"Don't forget the poison, Sensei!" Naruto chimed in helpfully.

Sensei sighed. "I was getting to that, Naruto. Suna ninja are prolific users of poison. I do not expect to encounter any hostile Suna forces, but I would prefer to be prepared for the eventuality. While you three prepare, I will visit the hospital and acquire a supply of the most recently updated broad-spectrum poison antidote."

xxxx

A/N: Sorry, folks. There will be no learning of the Shadow Clone technique by Sasuke via the Forbidden scroll in this story, even for the few of you who wanted him to learn it and die from chakra exhaustion. He won't be turning traitor any time soon. ;p

There might be an encounter with Gaara's team next chapter. Or maybe not.

Great responses from you guys regarding my revelation about the creation of chakra iron. No more hints for now, but some of you were close.

Please remember to review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Published: 6/23/2012


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Twenty Four:

xxxx

For one raised in the southern Elemental Nations, the concept of winter was understood intellectually as a slightly cooler time of year, but there was hardly a difference between the seasons. Days were a bit shorter or longer, a few trees might change the color of their foliage or lose it entirely, and certain species migrated to a different location. Fire Country, especially, enjoyed an unusually stable climate. Yearly rainfall hardly ever fluctuated and the land was generally a mixture of well tended farmland and extensive forest.

Wind Country, on the other hand, was bone dry and the few plants one could find were more brown than green, with the common theme among the flora being thorns, poison, or poisonous thorns. The heat of the midday sun during 'winter' seemed rather like standing beside a fully stoked blacksmith's forge and when the sun set beyond the horizon, the temperature fell with amazing alacrity.

Despite the chill, Naruto vastly preferred traveling in the evenings as Team Nine trekked through the desert wasteland that was Wind Country. The wind the country was named for did not blow nearly so much at night and the pervasive sand had less opportunity to insinuate itself into various uncomfortable nooks and crannies. It also helped that Neji had improved his earth construction technique a great deal in the past year. Resting in an underground bunker during the daylight hours, hidden beneath the dunes, was infinitely preferable to slogging through the oven hot sand beneath a blistering sun.

Naruto did not blame their target for fleeing deep into the no man's land that was the far interior of Wind Country. If he'd been a civilian trying to hide from ninja tasked with ending his life, he would have been hard pressed to find a more forbidding location to go to ground. Team Nine had not seen another human presence in days and if not for the massive amount of water Naruto kept in storage they would have been forced to turn back long ago. The desert nomads who roamed Wind Country might possibly have hidden wells sunk deep into the earth to tap the land's meager water table, but Naruto and his companions would have been hard pressed to find them while pursuing the target.

xxxx

"Wow," Tenten breathed out in awe.

A week after passing the last human settlement and three days since leaving sand dunes behind for rocky, broken mountain terrain, Team Nine now stood atop the lip of an immense crater-like depression in the earth that stretched nearly as far as the eye could see. The far rim was barely visible. Within the hidden landscape was an explosion of greenery that would not have been out of place in the heart of Fire Country. In the desolate wastes of Wind Country, it was incredible.

"A remarkable discovery," murmured Sensei.

"How can this not be on the map?" asked an incredulous Naruto. An oasis this size in the middle of the hellhole that was western Wind Country should be well documented. This place could definitely support people, a lot of them.

"The client's map is obviously incorrect," answered Neji. His byakugan was active, staring off into the distance.

Sensei nodded in agreement. "Incorrect due to ignorance or misinformation," he said. "We have traveled well beyond the point where any civilian could reach. They would need more water than they could possibly carry and much of the terrain we have traveled through would be impassable for any beast of burden."

"If that's the case, how can the client be out here?" questioned Tenten. "It wasn't easy to make it ourselves and we've not had to worry about carrying supplies the hard way."

"In all likelihood the client was duplicitous or else highly misinformed. This location is the supposed hiding place of our target, yet the map indicates nothing beyond an unexceptional mountain valley. We are most likely hunting a rogue ninja. The target himself could have supplied the map to our client to begin with." They had not been made aware of the client's relation to the target or why he'd been targeted for assassination.

Neji interrupted the discussion of his teammates. "The distance is too great to say with any certainty if the target is somewhere within the oasis, but there are definite signs of prior inhabitation."

"How recent, Neji?" Sensei asked.

"Centuries ago at the least, Sensei," Neji responded. "The vegetation appears to have destroyed most of the surface structures, but there are subterranean areas that appear largely intact."

Naruto perked up at the news of possibly ancient ruins. "You mean there's a chance this place is another left over like the ruins you saw in the mountains last year?" He still wanted to visit and explore what was hidden beneath the Shattered Steel Mountains. Between training and missions never bring them into the area, the unfulfilled desire had sat in the back of his mind since their first big mission.

The Hyuuga shrugged. "It's possible. We're at the extreme range of my byakugan and objects appear very different buried under a lifeless mountain compared to a thriving wilderness." Neji's casual indifference didn't mask the way he squinted his bulging white eyes and seemed to peer deep into the heart of the oasis.

"Exploration and treasure hunting must wait, students. The sun will set soon and we've yet to find any clue to our target's whereabouts; as he is possibly a rogue ninja familiar with this area, it is best to proceed with caution. We will make camp for the night and start fresh in the morning."

xxxx

"Shit!" Naruto cursed, jerking his hand away from the badly corroded metal pole sticking out of the ground. He and the rest of Team Nine stood on what had once been a street, but it was now a weed choked strip of uneven concrete and protruding rods of rusted through steel largely hidden beneath an assortment of plant life. The broken remains of buildings, large and small, lined the strip on both sides. Nature had reclaimed most of the area, with trees and other plants growing from piles of rubble that were once manmade structures. "Damn, that stings."

"What is it Naruto?" Tenten asked. At his initial pained exclamation she had drawn her sword and was already flowing lightning chakra down its length. The slow pace and odd environment had them all of the genin on edge.

"Just me being stupid, Tenten," the blond answered with a grin. "I was trying to get a feel for this thing. You know, see what kind of metal it was made from; it's an alloy of steel I've never felt before, by the way." Naruto shook his stinging hand again before continuing. "That pole is hooked up to a network of actual silver cables. I only connected for a second and there are a lot of missing pieces, but it felt like they span the entire oasis and electrical energy is still flowing through some of it."

Ebisu raised an eyebrow at Naruto's statement. Electricity was not easy to generate and few places outside of large prosperous cities were able to provide it to their citizens. Ninja villages could cheat using complex conversion seals that fed on energy, normally heat and light from the sun, and produced lightning-natured chakra that could then be tamed for more practical use. Regardless of how it was created, Ebisu had never heard of anything but copper being used to conduct electricity from one place to another. To find that a precious metal like silver had been employed to accomplish the same task was nearly as startling as learning that something in the oasis was still producing energy at all, despite hundreds of years of neglect.

"I see the cable leading up to the pole. It splits off into a series of smaller wires that branch off into the remains of the surrounding buildings," Neji added. "The main cable is several meters beneath the surface and extends outward in a grid-like pattern almost as far as I can see. The silver cables appear to be housed in a larger conduit along with other pipes and cables. One is a bundle of…woven glass?" He cocked his head to the side in confusion and stared harder. A moment later he frowned, but nodded in satisfaction that his first assessment had been correct.

Beyond the historical value and knowledge that could be gleaned from this site, the pure material wealth Naruto's revelation represented was astounding.

xxxx

Though they found no sign of traps laid by the target, Team Nine's progress deeper into the hidden oasis was slow and careful. The terrain was surprisingly difficult to navigate and not at all like the forests of their native Fire Country. The trees, of a species none of the ninja recognized, were too short and their branches too low to the ground to make them useful for travel. Where little soil was available, the trees often grew with their roots wrapped around and interposed with broken stone. The forest floor was an uneven mixture of collapsed tunnels and fallen buildings carpeted in a mat of greenery that disguised pitfalls and other hazardous obstacles.

"Something messed this place up bad," grunted Naruto as he jerked his foot out of the crack he'd just stepped in.

"An earthquake?" guessed Tenten.

"It's a possibility," Sensei conceded. "This mountain range could be seismically active."

"I bet there weren't any mountains here before the city was destroyed. Even broken all to pieces, this whole oasis is a lot flatter than it should be with mountains on all sides. Remember how the ruins Neji found in the Shattered Steel Mountains were _under_ the mountains?"

"Yeah, that would cause an earthquake all right," said Tenten.

Over the next half hour or so, Team Nine began moving through an area of the forest where the trees grew more sparsely and the utter destruction of the city was much reduced. They passed whole rows of dilapidated buildings, which while heavily damaged and choked with creeping vines, were mostly intact. Some windows still had panes of glass in them. It was by far the easiest and most likely traveled route toward the center of the oasis. Sensei was relying on Neji's byakugan to spot the target before the more open terrain could give away their presence.

"Man, I can't wait to look around this place," muttered Naruto as he paused momentarily to inspect the rusted hulk of a many wheeled vehicle of some sort that was half buried in the side of a partially collapse building. "We could take a vaca-"

"A ninja approaches!" Neji interrupted.

"Awesome, let's get the mission taken care of so we can start exploring!"

"Two ninja, no three," said Neji, revising his original statement. "Their gear would indicate Suna chuunin." He activated the seals in his bracelets, instantly fitting the foci to his hands.

"The target may be a civilian after all," Tenten remarked, sword drawn and waiting for Sensei's command. "If he hired native guides, they could have helped him reach this place."

"Scatter and conceal yourselves, students. I will confront the Suna forces and determine their intentions."

Naruto and Tenten moved to obey, but Neji stood stock still, tracking the Suna chuunin. "Sensei, the approaching ninja appear panicked. Terrified, even." His message given, Neji sank beneath broken ground.

xxxx

"Sensei, the approaching ninja appear panicked. Terrified, even." Ebisu watched as Neji disappeared from view.

He left his genin to their hiding places and continued to move forward, waiting for the ninja to reach him. They were terrified of something? If they fled an as of yet unrevealed danger, this would be the least obstructed path to take.

Less than a minute passed before Ebisu saw the first Suna ninja enter the less densely overgrown area in a full on sprint. With the more open terrain and line of sight available, the chuunin stopped to take a deep breath and then body flickered, coming back into view less than a dozen meters from Ebisu's position. The technique was useful for extremely high speed movement over short distances, but impractical in terms of chakra usage over the long term. If one was in an all out rush to cover the greatest distance possible in the shortest time, however, using the body flicker was up to the task.

Almost within spitting distance, the chuunin didn't notice Ebisu immediately. Eyes wide and his face sweat slicked, the panting ninja's hand had nearly formed a half-ram seal to body flicker once more when he spotted the Konoha jounin.

It was a testament to the chuunin's state of mind that he didn't take any steps to ready himself for combat, though Ebisu held a kunai in either hand and was clearly positioned to throw one if provoked.

A long drawn out moment of silence stretched between the two ninja before the chuunin exclaimed, "Where in hell did you come from? Shit, we've got to get out of here! The whole caldera is beginning to destabilize!"

The two trailing chuunin Neji had spotted body flickered onto the scene as Ebisu was sheathing his weapons. They were obviously not looking for a fight. One, a short-haired brunette female was bleeding from several small wounds on the left side of her face. Her clothing was covered in soot and her left sleeve was charred. The other, a male in his late teens, was cradling a broken wrist close to his chest and sounded like he was having trouble breathing.

The woman shouted, "What? A jounin of Konoha? Never fucking mind! That fool activated the mechanism, there's no telling how long we have until-"

Ebisu barely kept his footing as the ground shook and a large piece of stone he was standing on shifted, falling halfway into a collapsing tunnel.

"Come on!"

xxxx

Immobilized by a half-dozen summoned ninja dogs, Momochi Zabuza died with Hatake Kakashi's lightning-sheathed hand thrust through his chest where his heart once rested. The massive blade of Kubikiri Bouchou, half-smeared with bright red blood, fell from his lifeless fingers. The corpse collapsed face first to the earth as the summoned animals were dispelled with a thought from their master. Uncaring of the potential bounty the rogue ninja, a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, could bring, Kakashi stomped down on its head with a single chakra-enhanced leg.

Zabuza's head exploded like an overripe melon accompanied by a tortured, "Noooo!" torn from the throat of Sasuke's masked opponent.

The Uchiha was left alone within the dome of ice mirrors, pierced by more than a dozen senbon needles, as the effeminate ninja he'd been fighting abandoned the offensive in favor of rushing to Zabuza's aide.

Appearing from within an ice mirror by the side of Zabuza's mangled corpse, Haku died with Kakashi's kunai planted to the hilt in the base of his skull.

A sobbing Haruno Sakura and a deathly pale but otherwise unharmed Tazuna stood over the remains of Team Seven's former member. Fuki's head, right arm and shoulder, and part of his upper torso had been cleaved from the rest of the body by Kubikiri Bouchou. The boy had died quickly. It had been his lifeblood painted across Zabuza's stolen sword that served as a target for Kakashi's pack of summoned dogs.

xxxx

"We have the worst timing in the whole freaking world," Naruto moaned, glancing back over his shoulder to see the far off edge of the rock wall enclosing the oasis and it's destroyed ancient city now bubbling over with lava. The lava had barely been visible when they'd stood on the rim overlooking the oasis and now it had already filled the entire crater? So much for hoping any of the artifacts within would survive.

"Less whining and more fleeing, Naruto!" admonished Tenten. As if giving the boy an example, she body flickered far ahead. The Suna contingent followed his teammate, leaving Naruto alone for a few seconds.

"It's not fair. Why couldn't we get this mission a month ago?" There was an explosion behind him and the rocky slope he was running across vibrated alarmingly. "Right then, more fleeing."

xxxx

A/N: I won't deny that this is a bit of a filler chapter, but I wanted to write it to once more touch on the ancient civilization I've mentioned before and to give Team Nine a valid reason to be in Suna next chapter.

Fuki had to die for reasons that you can probably figure out, so Team Seven's mission to Wave Country was touched on very lightly. He wasn't really an OC, btw. There was a kid in canon Naruto's academy class named Fuki. I just gave him more screen time than he got originally. For those concerned with Sasuke getting sealed by the Hokage, there are behind the scenes machinations going on that will be revealed later.

A surprising number of readers have asked about Neji's chakra foci. I guess I didn't give a good enough description for people to form a good mental picture. If you're familiar with Stargate TV series, think of a less ostentatious goa'uld hand device or you can do a Google image search for "Indian hand jewelry". Just keep in mind that Neji's isn't a gem-encrusted ornament.

The excellent reviews I've received from you guys are a great motivation to continue writing. ^_^

Published: 6/24/2012


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Twenty Five:

xxxx

Neji's hands glowed with medical chakra. "Sato appears to have inhaled a corrosive substance, Sensei. The damage to his lungs is beyond my ability to repair, but I can prevent further deterioration with frequent treatments." Though the Hyuuga's patient was not fully healed, his breathing sounded much less labored and the disturbing liquid rasp that accompanied every exhalation was gone.

Tenten had already healed the minor cuts to Haruko's face and applied an antiseptic ointment to the mild burns on her arm. Burns were tricky to heal properly and neither genin had progressed in their medical studies to the point where their efforts would be more effective than simply medicating the wound and allowing the body's own repair processes to work unaided. By the time Neji was satisfied with his work on Sato's lungs, she had set and fused the young man's fractured wrist. Though mostly healed, Tenten placed a makeshift splint on the wrist to prevent further injury.

No one had bothered to ask Naruto if he wished to provide assistance.

They had fled at high speed until the streamers and fountains of lava being blasted into the air were no longer visible and even Neji, with his senses highly tuned to the earth, could not detect any shaking in the ground beneath their feet. Only then had they stopped to rest and tend to the injuries of the Suna ninja. Sensei was giving them another half hour before they moved back out. Just because they couldn't see further effects from the eruption didn't mean they weren't occurring. It was best to put as much distance as possible between them and the former oasis.

"Even if we disregard the still functional advanced technology and wealth of salvageable materials, the caldera was the lushest environment in Wind Country," complained Raido, the leader of the chuunin squad, to Sensei. "Hidden from the world and far from civilization, it would have made an excellent stronghold."

Apparently, the Suna ninjas' client, Fujiwara Ichiro, had indeed been Team Nine's target. The civilian scientist had paid for a long term escort mission to investigate a site located on an incredibly ancient and barely legible map uncovered in an archaeological dig in Waterfall Country. The mission was already six weeks over the originally projected maximum duration when Ichiro's arrogance got the better of him. Believing he finally understood the purposes and operation of the massive machines hidden deep below the caldera's surface, the man had instead destroyed perhaps the most pristine remnant of the all but forgotten ancient civilization that preceded their own.

Sensei theorized that Team Nine's client was Ichiro's financial backer. When the scientist was a month late reporting his findings, Team Nine's services were acquired.

Naruto thought that sending an assassination squad after someone for being a month overdue was a little bit on the extreme side. Then again, he didn't know Fujiwara Ichiro – the man may have been the sort that no one would regret getting rid of – and their unnamed client might not be the overly patient or forgiving type.

It was very strange being on such good terms with foreign ninja when under slightly different circumstances they could have been mortal enemies. There were implications to the whole situation he would have to ask Sensei about later. Suna was an ally of Konoha and while it was one thing to take missions within Wind Country's borders, it was another matter entirely to assault ninja of Suna in the process of carrying out that mission.

xxxx

Sato had been coughing up blood for most of the day before Team Nine and their Suna companions finally reached the entrance to the desert ninjas' village. There had been little protest when Naruto created a pair of iron clones and fashioned a makeshift stretcher from his and Neji's bedrolls to carry the man once the Hyuuga could no longer adequately treat his lung damage.

"I'm sure we've been under observation for a while now," commented Raido. The unnaturally precise slit in the terraced cliffside leading to Hidden Suna was within easy body flicker distance. "Wait here while I notify the sentries of your intentions." The ninja disappeared in a puff of sand.

Standing beside her now unconscious teammate while Neji once more tried to provide what treatment he could, Haruko said, "We'll probably be parting ways here since I doubt the guards will allow you entrance to the village. I'd just like to thank all of Team Nine, especially you Neji, for assisting our return home. Sato would have succumbed to his injuries by now and Raido and I would have been hard pressed to survive with our supplies lost."

"That's what allies are for!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin. The Suna trio was actually the first ninja they'd met outside of Konoha who were not rogues or, in the case of Hoshigaki Tetsuro's ambush, did not attack them with evil intent. He would have liked to get a look at the interior of the village, but didn't really mind having to leave it unknown. Raido claimed there were no ramen vendors in the village and he'd just as soon return to Konoha if given the option.

Neji nodded in agreement with Naruto's sentiment. "Fate conspired to place Sato within my sphere of influence. As allies of Konoha, it was my duty to provide assistance as I am able."

Naruto sighed at the other boy's references to fate and duty. Would it have been so hard to just say thanks?

Moments later, when the attack came, the entire assembly of gathered ninja, from both Konoha and Suna, were targeted.

xxxx

Naruto had devoted too much attention in that critical split second toward directing his iron clones to carry Sato to safety.

His efforts were all for naught. Burdened as they were by the unconscious ninja, the clones were unable to escape the wave of sand and distracted as he was, neither was Naruto. Tenten's long ago warning about relying on his iron clones at an inopportune moment flashed through the boy's mind before he was overtaken.

xxxx

Neji cursed, reflexively activating his byakugan as he expelled chakra to form a partial version of the Hyuuga clan's unique Heavenly Spin defense.

As a member of the Branch family, he was not supposed to even know of the technique's existence, much less understand the mechanics well enough to learn it himself. Neji was not called a genius without reason, however, and had observed the technique in use more than once throughout his childhood. It was hardly an instruction manual, but it was enough to reverse engineer it. Despite a great deal of practice, he was far from perfecting the Heavenly Spin, though. The partial shell of rotating chakra that momentarily covered the boy was by no means an absolute defense, but it served well enough in this case. Instead of being enveloped in the trailing edge of the wave and crushed under tons of sand, the impact against his barrier sent Neji tumbling head over heels and down the opposite side of the sand dune they had gathered on.

He'd been so intent on removing the excess fluid from Sato's lungs that his situational awareness had suffered. Now as he climbed back to his feet, the world once more revealed itself as only a Hyuuga could perceive.

There was the enemy, fifty five meters to the north-east, submerged less than a meter beneath the sand. The boy's chakra spread like a greasy web, filaments burrowing throughout the surrounding dunes. A great deal of the boy's chakra was concentrated in a massive gourd-like container at his back and a significant, but smaller amount clung tightly to his skin. A Suna forehead protector was attached to a sash the boy wore across his chest.

Seven meters to Neji's left, Naruto's iron clones were gone, their chakra matrixes fatally compromised. Sato, no longer unconscious and unable to even scream for help or beg for mercy was entombed within a writhing mass of sand. Before he could move to render assistance, the sand contracted as the web of chakra controlling it tightened.

Sato's body ruptured from the pressure, spraying blood and viscera from inside the cocoon of sand.

Neji flinched and raised an arm to block the arc of blood that flew in his direction.

xxxx

There was a long moment of crushing pain and all-encompassing darkness before Naruto realized he was intact and buried beneath the desert floor. The sand that had rolled over him so mercilessly now flowed around his form like water, slipping harmlessly off the shell of chakra iron he'd instinctively encased himself within. Chakra flowed through his armor and he swam through the sand with ease. He could feel it trying to resist, but that was more a flavor of _intent_ he felt from a nearby foreign chakra than the sand itself working against him.

He returned to the surface and was blind for a terrifying instant before realizing that his entire head was covered in iron. The armor receded away from his head with a thought.

Naruto's first sight upon restoring his vision was Neji staring stupidly at a crushed mound of blood-soaked gore and sand.

Without waiting and trying not to think of who had once been that pile of meat, Naruto grasped Neji's shoulder and body flickered them both blindly toward the chakra signal given off by Sensei's pendent. There would be time for justice when his team was safe.

xxxx

Tenten leapt up and away from the rolling wave of sand, taking to the air and allowing it to pass by harmlessly. Or so she had hoped.

A grasping limb of sand extended toward Tenten as she reached the apex of her desperate jump, speeding through the intervening space in the blink of an eye. Sheathed in lightning chakra, her Kurokiri lashed out, slashing through the limb and disrupting the control of whoever was sending it after her.

"Lightning Release: Crash!" The offensive body flicker technique was still a work in progress, especially her ability to determine its precise destination. Even incomplete it allowed her to perform an aerial body flicker, no contact with the ground necessary, to nearly instantaneously leave her unacceptably vulnerable position fifteen meters in the air.

The bun-haired girl reappeared more than a hundred meters away from her original position, Kurokiri halfway buried in the sand below and an expanding ring of lightning crackling away from her body nearly ten meters in all directions. There were no enemies in range, else they would have experienced a nasty shock.

Tenten wrenched Kurokiri from the sand and sent a pulse of lightning down its length to blast away the crust of glass clinging to the blade. The dune-like wave of sand had blended back into the desert floor and Team Nine had scattered. She rushed to the top of the nearest dune for a better vantage point.

Haruko stood only meters from Sensei, a kunai in hand and an expression of utmost dread etched upon her face. She had not looked so terrified when fleeing for her life from a rising tide of molten rock.

Together, Neji and Naruto appeared at Sensei's side. The pale-eyed Hyuuga was splattered with blood and unusually rigid for being in the middle of combat. Naruto's clothing and forehead protector were gone, his body resembling a silvery-blue metallic sculpture. The expression on the metal-clad boy's uncovered face was murderous.

She followed her teammates' example, arriving in time to hear, "Ebisu, take your team and run!" shouted by Haruko.

"Neji, snap out of it!" demanded Naruto, shaking the Hyuuga roughly by the shoulder.

"It's too late!" Haruko despaired, pointing over Tenten's shoulder with a trembling finger. "The demon is here."

She spun on her heel, sword at the ready, to see a boy no older than Naruto standing maybe eighty meters away. The demon?

xxxx

Naruto regarded the pale-skinned redhead with the ridiculous gourd stuck to his back and an impossible to overlook Suna forehead protector. This was the asshole that had just tried to destroy Team Nine and had succeeded in killing Sato? The injured chuunin was reduced to bloody pulp by a member of his own village?

Killing intent washed over him, by far the most intense Naruto had ever experienced. It gave the boy pause for a moment, but then it just made him angry.

"I'm going to smear this bastard across the whole fucking desert!" Naruto declared. He began to mold a massive amount of chakra while flashing through a long series of hand signs.

"Iron Release: Iron Dragon Projec- Urk!"

Tackled from behind and his cast ruined, the gathered chakra was discharged into the desert floor, turning a circle of sand more than thirty meters in diameter into solid iron.

Naruto flipped over, tossing his assailant aside without effort. "Tenten? What the hell did you do that for?"

Glaring from her prone position on the unforgiving surface of the sand-turned-iron, the girl pointed to a masked Suna ninja standing where he'd been a moment earlier. In the man's outstretched hand was a nearly transparent blade of wind chakra; it was rapidly fading away now that it was no longer being fed chakra. He had not moved since attempting to decapitate Naruto due to Sensei's retaliatory strike. One razor-edged blade was pressed against the masked ninja's unprotected throat and the tip of another was wedged between two armored plates covering his back, ready to pierce a kidney or sever his spine.

Naruto believed his armor would have protected against the ninja's wind blade, but this wasn't the time to test such theories.

"What is the meaning of this hostility?" Sensei demanded. The kunai in their jounin commander's hands were beginning to glow with fire-chakra. It would take very little effort to flood them entirely and carve through the man's flesh like a hot knife through butter.

"He's protecting the demon," Haruko spat.

"Lord Kazakage's son!" protested the ninja. Sensei withdrew his weapons and kicked the man away.

xxxx

What a fantastic debacle this was becoming. Three four-man Suna ANBU squads now surrounded what Ebisu recognized to be the Ichibi's jinchuuriki. The reports of the boy's mental instability were not exaggerated after all. If anything, they had been downplayed. To blatantly attack members of an allied village who were clearly rendering assistance to your own forces. It beggared the imagination that the situation in Suna had been allowed to progress to this level.

Ebisu tucked his weapons away and ordered, "We're leaving, students. I will not allow any of you to become further involved in this disgusting exchange." He cut off Naruto's protest with a pointed look before the boy could even open his mouth.

Several minutes of all out sprinting interspersed with body flickers at opportune locations carried Team Nine two dozen kilometers from Suna before he slowed their pace.

"You wanna tell us what happened back there, Sensei?" Naruto demanded. Ebisu was honestly impressed the boy was able to restrain himself for so long. "That asshole killed Sato for no damned reason!"

"The jinchuuriki of the Ichibi is quite insane. He didn't need a reason to kill his fellow ninja, just as he needed no justification for attacking us." Wars had been started over less provocation. Why was the mad dog being allowed to roam freely?

"You mean he's like me?" Naruto choked out incredulously.

"Only in the barest sense of the word," Ebisu answered. "You both have a demon sealed within you. Beyond that, there is no comparison at all."

xxxx

A/N: Holy crap, I wrote this whole chapter while on a business call. My head hurts now…

There would have been more to this chapter if I'd been allowed to devote all of my attention to it. I could hold off on publishing it, but I think the gist of what I intended made it through.

Published: 6/25/2012


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Twenty Six:

xxxx

"As you know, Naruto, there are ninja villages in possession of the remaining Tailed Beasts. They use them to create jinchuuriki as weapons of war and strategic deterrents against invasion. Konoha is unique among villages in that you were not made a jinchuuriki with the express purpose of being a weapon," Ebisu explained. For now Naruto did not need to know there was a small, but powerful faction within the village that would have loved nothing more than to strip the boy of any shred of humanity to forge their own engine of destruction.

"That's old news, Sensei," Naruto complained.

Now that Team Nine was out of Wind Country and making good progress through the much more hospitable River Country, Ebisu felt it was safe to halt their travel for the night and make camp. The bare stone walls of the bunker constructed by Neji's earth ninjutsu were lit by a single large seal Naruto had imprinted into the ceiling. It would have been arid and nearly freezing in Wind Country, but the night air was pleasantly cool and moist in the forests of River Country, a far cry from the team's recent travels, with the single all too short exception of time spent in the oasis caldera.

Ignoring Naruto's comment, Ebisu continued, "Konoha does not have intelligence on the identities of every village's jinchuuriki. They are typically kept close to home and replaced often. Among those we are aware of is Gaara of the Sand, youngest son of the Yondaime Kazekage." Though it had already been revealed that the Ichibi's jinchuuriki was the son of Suna's Kage, the parallel that the sons of two Yondaimes would both end up as demon containers caused a slight widening of Naruto's eyes.

"Verifiable reports have been scarce and much of what we knew of Gaara was based on rumors or second hand accounts." Hokage-sama made a point of sharing information pertaining to other jinchuuriki with him, considering his role in Naruto's life. "Gaara controls sand for offense and defense, he is teamed with his older brother and sister, and is hated and reviled by Suna because of his blatant disregard for the lives of his fellow citizens." He paused for effect before continuing, "You three have just received the summary of our previous knowledge on Suna's jinchuuriki."

"I can see why the villagers in Suna hate him," Tenten admitted. "If today is anything to go by, he's a murdering psychopath. We were attacked without warning and poor Sato couldn't even defend himself. There's no telling how many people he's killed in his own village."

"Estimates were low," Ebisu replied, "but may need to be revised upward. For three ANBU squads to respond to Gaara's unprovoked attack within such a short time, they were almost assuredly assigned as permanent minders." You didn't tie up the services of twelve elite ninja to babysit such a powerful individual within his own village. They were there to intervene.

"But is he a freaking nutcase because he's been treated like shit by the villagers or do the villagers treat him like shit because he's a nutcase?" Naruto asked with a frown. As one who had lived for years surrounded by thinly veiled hatred, his youngest genin had a more vested interest in Gaara's treatment and how it had affected him.

"Likely some combination of both, to be honest," Ebisu replied, uncomfortable with the uncertainty. He did not like applying conjecture to such a serious topic.

"Naruto has been treated harshly by the citizens of Konoha, yet he is a well adjusted ninja fully in control of his faculties," interjected Neji. The Hyuuga had been more quiet than usual. Neji had spent hours every day for a week keeping Sato healthy enough to return to Suna. Seeing the injured chuunin's life snuffed out practically on the doorstep of what should have been a sanctuary was obviously not sitting well with the boy.

Naruto puffed up and grinned at receiving the slightly out of character praise from his normally reticent teammate. The pride receded quickly as the events of the day once more intruded on his thoughts.

Without looking up from the unrolled weapon scroll she was fiddling with, Tenten commented, "There's just a lot we don't know, you guys, except that Gaara, in Naruto's words, is a 'freaking nutcase'. What's important is how we deal with him in the future. Konoha and Suna are allies; we might run across Gaara or his whole team some day."

"Regardless of the reasons for his madness, Gaara of the Sand is a rabid dog," Neji responded. "He should be put down humanely for the protection of others."

If Ebisu didn't know better, he would have assumed his genin were in the initial stage of plotting to assassinate the child of an allied village's leader. The child was insane and used the powers of the demon sealed within him with to engage in pointless slaughter, but that mattered very little when it came to things like starting a war with your neighbor. Even the incident earlier in the day would only earn a tacit letter of apology from the Kazekage, if that, since no ninja of Konoha had been injured in the exchange.

"If we kill Gaara, Sensei, what happens to the Ichibi?" Naruto asked.

"Jinchuuriki lore is sparse, Naruto, but the most commonly held belief is that so long as the seal imprisoning the Tailed Beast remains intact, upon the containers death the demon's chakra will be temporarily dispersed. It will coalesce and form a new body some time later, either in the location of its release form captivity or an environment most suited to its powers and temperament."

All three genin nodded thoughtfully, exchanging meaningful looks with one another.

Perhaps it would be best to avoid missions in Wind Country for the foreseeable future.

xxxx

If anyone dared to call the permanent bunker Neji had created beneath their jounin's commander's courtyard something so juvenile as a clubhouse, Team Nine would deny it adamantly. This was where Naruto turned raw steel and scraps into weapons. He even had a chamber set aside specifically for working on his mastery of the sealing arts. Neji came here to practice clan techniques away from the prying eyes of his family; the entire underground structure was warded against the penetrating vision of the byakugan using sealing array schematics supplied to Naruto by the Hyuuga boy himself. Naruto didn't ask how they were acquired and Neji didn't volunteer that information. Tenten just liked to hang out with her teammates on their few off hours without her well meaning, but overbearing parents around. It definitely was not a clubhouse.

"What you're talking about sounds an awful lot like the Yondaime's Flying Thunder God technique," Naruto said to his female teammate. There was not much literature to be found in Konoha detailing his father's signature creation and the seal-inscribed kunai the Old Man had handed over were less than helpful. Decompressing one of those arrays had so far proved impossible for his fledgling skills.

Tenten laughed. "I wish! How awesome would that be?" She shook her head and sighed. "My Crash technique isn't even a patch on what the Yondaime could do. It's only a modified body flicker. It works just like I wanted; I can body flicker, even in mid-air, and when I reach my destination release a surge of lightning-natured chakra. My problem is aiming the stupid thing," she finished with a scowl. "Beyond going in the general direction I'm aiming for, landing anywhere within forty or fifty meters of my target is the best I can manage." Tenten really did not like to miss.

"So you want something like a lightning rod you can specifically target?" Naruto understood where she was leading. If they got this worked out, he didn't think he'd be the only person mistaking Tenten's Crash technique with the Flying Thunder God. People who'd only heard stories about the Yondaime in battle could get some odd ideas if a young genin started appearing in a flash of lightning.

"Yeah, but one that won't ground out my lightning chakra."

Knowing the girl would continue to experiment with or without his help, Naruto said, "Okay, let's try out a few different tracking seals first. We'll work out how to avoid grounding the lightning once you can reliably hit your marker."

xxxx

"Hokage-sama, thank you for granting us an audience on such short notice!" exclaimed Might Guy with a deep bow. His young apprentice, bearing a disturbing resemblance to Guy, copied the jounin's motions precisely.

"Hokage-sama!" Rock Lee echoed.

Hiruzen secretly wondered about this boy's parentage. Could Lee be a youthful indiscretion on Guy's part? It would certainly explain his fierce desire to instruct the young boy, despite his handicapped ability to use chakra.

"Think nothing of it, Guy. I have been looking forward to meeting your young protégé for some time now."

"Yosh! The honor is all mine, Hokage-sama!" Lee boomed.

"Please forgive my Apprentice for speaking out of turn, Hokage-sama! The Flames of Youth overwhelm his manners!" Guy's response had Lee scribbling in a small notebook he'd pulled from a waist pouch.

This was going to get old quickly. He'd better move the conversation along before the 'Flames of Youth' burned out his patience.

"Nonsense, Guy. Young Lee's excitement is most refreshing. Now then, what did you wish to speak with me about?"

"We came to beseech you, Hokage-sama, to allow Lee to compete in the tournament portion of the upcoming Chuunin Exam! Of course my Apprentice would not be eligible for promotion, since he is not on a genin team, but it would be an excellent time for him to display the Power of his Youthful Flames!" Hiruzen wasn't exactly sure how the younger man was doing it, there was no detectable chakra involved, but he was beginning to see an image of a hazy ocean sunset taking shape somewhere behind the Master and Apprentice.

While curious to see what changes nearly a year and a half of personal instruction from Guy had wrought in Lee, Hiruzen couldn't see how he'd be able to slip the boy into the final portion of the Chuunin Exam without stepping on a few too many toes. Simply curiosity and appeasing the young teen's desire to demonstrate his hard won skill was not worth expending quite that much political capital. There was, however, a solution that had unfortunately presented itself.

"I am afraid it would be unfair to the other participants to allow Lee to bypass the first and second stage of the exam," he answered. Guy's bright smile faded somewhat at the news, but Lee's grew brighter. Bright, but brittle, Hiruzen could see easily enough.

"There is, however, a chance that Lee could compete in the upcoming exam as a full participant. You are no doubt aware of the tragic loss suffered by Team Seven just weeks ago?"

"Ah, yes, Hokage-sama," came Guy's surprisingly somber reply. "Kakashi, my Eternal Rival, has not been himself since the loss of young Fuki. The boy's Flames of Youth burned brightly, but were snuffed prematurely by the late Demon of the Bloody Mist."

Hiruzen nodded. "With the loss of Ishida Fuki from Team Seven, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke do not have the requisite third team member needed to compete in the exam. If no eligible genin can be found to serve as a replacement, they will be required to sit out."

"I had not wished to seem inconsiderate of Kakashi's loss," Guy mused quietly. So the eccentric jounin had thought about the possibility of Lee working with his friend's team.

"I do not believe Kakashi would think ill of you for making the offer, Guy. Why don't you speak with him and if he agrees, I will expedite the paperwork to make Lee's temporary placement with Team Seven official?"

"Yosh! Hokage-sama, Master, if I do not complete the Chuunin Exam as a member of Team Seven, I will run one thousand laps around Konoha on my hands!" shouted Rock Lee in an apparent outburst of uncontrollable Youth.

What in hell was Guy doing to this boy?

xxxx

Kurokiri's blade held so much lightning-natured chakra that it had turned from black to a luminescent blue and left a crackling haze in the air when it was passed. Tenten maneuvered the blade with the skill of a kenjutsu master, always on the move, her form flowing from one strike to the next. Occasionally, she would disengage and put several meters of distance between herself and her opponent. Range was not an issue for Kurokiri; a blindingly fast sweep of the sword would send deadly sheets of lightning chakra crackling across the field of battle.

Unarmed but for the chakra foci he wore on each hand, Neji weathered every attack that his teammate could unleash against him. Every hack, slash, and stab from Tenten's blade was batted aside by a hand surrounded with a cloudy bluish-white haze of swirling chakra.

Standing at Sensei's side, Naruto watched as Tenten used Kurokiri to send another wave of pure elemental lightning chakra toward Neji, without needing to use a ninjutsu technique. The Hyuuga again did not try to avoid the potentially lethal attack, instead cupping his hands together to create a short-lived barrier of chakra that caused the girl's lightning to splash harmlessly aside.

"They've really taken those weapons and run with them, Sensei," commented Naruto to the jounin.

"Those are true chakra weapons, Naruto, wielded expertly by skilled ninja." Sensei now had a special pair of kunai, largely unrecognizable as anything but run of the mill weapons any ninja might use, that he kept tucked away for special purposes. Naruto had been a little disappointed that the man had chosen such mundane seeming weapons, but understood that hiding in plain sight was an admirable ninja trait.

"You certainly donated enough chakra iron to ensure that the results were not merely chakra conductive weapons, but true masterpieces."

"It's a good thing, too. I'd hate to be the only badass on Team Nine."

There was a brilliant flash, far more intense than those seen previously during Tenten and Neji's rather energetic sparring session, and both genin were propelled explosively from the epicenter of an explosion of chakra.

Sensei and student rushed to check the condition of the unconscious pair, quickly ascertaining that neither was seriously injured. Naruto still couldn't produce useful medical chakra, the results were merely poisonous these days instead of explosive or corrosive, but much like Sensei, he could use a medic's diagnostic techniques well enough to not make a medical ninja cringe. The jounin examined each of his genin then prompted Naruto to do so as well. Compliant test subjects were few and far between for the blond boy.

"Tenten's very low on chakra," Naruto announced after performing the standard series of exploratory techniques. "Not low enough to be dangerous, though. Neji's still got almost half of his chakra left, but he has mild chakra burns on both palms. I don't think Tenten is far enough along to fix the burns yet and he won't be able to with those tenketsu fried." Neither was suffering from broken bones and the minor bruises from their hard landings weren't worth mentioning.

Beyond having a larger chakra capacity, Neji's use of his foci was far more efficient than Tenten's manner of employing Kurokiri. By their very nature, they improved the Hyuuga's already phenomenal control, allowing him to use the smallest amount of energy as possible to achieve the desired result. Tenten's sword offered such a great deal of offensive power in comparison to the chakra consumed by an actual lightning ninjutsu technique that she did not mind.

"Training is done for the day. Let's get these two to the hospital. Tenten can observe as Neji's burns are treated."

xxxx

"Assurances of good conduct aside, Hokage-sama, I do not believe it wise to allow Gaara and his team entry into the Chuunin Exam," Ebisu protested.

The Hokage sighed. "I share your concerns, Ebisu. Unfortunately, I am bound by the treaty I myself created so many years ago. With no outstanding warrants for his arrest in any of the nations sending genin to our exam, to bar the boy from the village would invalidate Konoha's right to send our genin to exams in other villages. You know as well as I how important the exams have become for Konoha's continued prosperity."

There was a definite correlation between the number of B- and A-Rank missions a village received and the performance of its genin during the bi-annual Chuunin Exams held in the signatory nations. The spectacles now attracted the nobility from more than a dozen countries and all manner of wealthy individuals. Beyond serving as a route to promote their forces, the exams were highly effective advertising. There would be a sharp decline in mission revenue if Konoha could not participate.

Upon returning to the village from Wind Country months previously, Team Nine had been fully debriefed in regards to not only what transpired during their mission and the discoveries that were made and lost in the course of carrying out their duties, but also the short confrontation with Suna's jinchuuriki. It was a wealth of information that would keep the ninja in the Intelligence Division happy for some time. Ebisu had also, quite reluctantly, confessed his fear that Team Nine would attempt to destroy Gaara if given the opportunity.

"If the Ichibi jinchuuriki were to die during the competition, sir?" asked Ebisu. There were some absolute orders he was willing to give Team Nine and others he was not. He did not wish to issue a command to the three teens he did not feel they would obey. To do so, in his opinion, would be a sign of poor leadership and an example that he was an unworthy mentor.

The Hokage speared Ebisu with a _look_. "Death is a very real possibility during the second and third phases of the competition this year. It would be a regrettable tragedy if Gaara of the Sand were to die while participating in the exam."

In other words, the boy was fair game. There would be no consequences for destroying the jinchuuriki. The consequences of merely _trying_ to kill Gaara, however, did not need to be explained. Now Ebisu needed to decide if he would warn Team Nine or let them be surprised by Gaara's first appearance in the village.

It was not a difficult choice to make.

xxxx

A/N: Chuunin exams start soon! Should we weep for Team Seven or rejoice in their renewed Flames of Youth?

To those who questioned how Gaara was handled last chapter: Despite how his character grows throughout the canon series, initially he is a raving psychopath as likely to crush you in a cocoon of sand as he is to look at you. The restraint he initially shows in the first phase of the Chuunin Exam is remarkably out of character for the boy. Contrary to his own words, he does not merely kill to validate his existence. Keep in mind these are my opinions based off my own interpretation of the events portrayed in the series.

The continued support from you guys is amazing.

Published: 6/26/2012


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Twenty Seven:

xxxx

Palms pressed flat against the rocky ground, Neji manipulated raw earth chakra without making use of any single ninjutsu. He was attempting to shape the earth for a very specific purpose, not attack or defense, nor even personal training.

Slowly, from the ground less than a meter in front of the concentrating boy, a pillar of stone began to emerge. Twenty centimeters thick and three meters high, it was noticeably darker than the surrounding rock of the Hokage Mountain and shone brightly in the noonday sunlight as if highly polished. The air around the construct shimmered with a heat mirage.

Neji stumbled back from his creation and sighed with relief. He'd just dumped an excessive amount of his personal chakra reserves into fashioning the stone pillar, maybe as high as ten percent. If not for the chakra foci he wore, it would have likely cost him double that and left the tenketsu in his palms painfully seared.

"The pillar holds as much chakra as I could force into it and its density can be increased no further at my present level of control," he told his teammates. "We should give it time to cool and reach maximum solidity." Compressing the rock so tightly had imparted a great deal of heat, enough that he could feel it radiating outward from nearly two meters away.

"I can take care of the heat," volunteered Naruto. The blond walked forward and placed and armor sheathed hand against the pillar.

"Slowly, Naruto," Neji cautioned. "If you remove the excess heat too quickly, the stone may fracture."

His youngest teammate nodded and said, "Gotcha. This'll just take a minute."

This exercise had evolved from Team Nine's discussion relating to Neji's limited observations of Gaara of the Sand before Sensei had forced them to return to Konoha. Their understanding of the jinchuuriki's demon-granted powers was uncomfortably limited and the only other example they had to go by, Naruto himself, did not serve as a valid comparison. Beyond a greatly increased rate of healing and chakra reserves that exceeded those of anyone they'd ever encountered, the Hokage included, Naruto did not appear to gain anything from being the host of the Kyuubi. They were not even certain those traits came from the demon or his Uzumaki heritage. Exactly how accurate were the tales of the Uzumaki clan's nearly superhuman fortitude and powerful chakra?

Neji had noticed a peculiarity with Gaara's chakra that upon further review reminded him of Naruto, specifically the manner in which the blond boy's dense chakra flowed within the iron armor fused to his flesh. The brief non-byakugan enhanced glimpses they had seen of the Ichibi jinchuuriki did not suggest he was armored similar to Naruto, but then their teammate didn't necessarily appear armored, either.

Tenten hypothesized that much like Naruto's control over metal extended to his iron armor, whether the permanent partial plating or the full body suit he could create for greater protection, Gaara's chakra-infused sand possibly served a similar purpose.

From experimentation with one of Naruto's iron rods, when the boy pushed chakra into it, Team Nine knew it became virtually indestructible, at least to any force they were able to bring to bear against it. Tenten's most tightly focused Storm Lance could not even discolor the metal and a lightning-empowered Kurokiri glanced off without leaving a scratch; luckily her blade remained intact, as well, and Naruto's chakra absorbing seals kept him from being electrocuted during the tests. Neji already knew that the chakra-infused iron was immune to even his strongest foci enhanced jyuken strikes and chakra scalpels actually dissolved on contact with the substance, courtesy of his less and less frequent spars with Naruto; the full body armor of his teammate rendered the matches pointless and neither gained much from the bouts. His strongest earth ninjutsu techniques would shatter against the iron before piercing its defenses. The sheer kinetic force imparted by many of his techniques was still dangerous, but would not serve their desired purpose.

Fortuitously, while chakra iron was both the perfect medium to conduct chakra and to be empowered by it, silica sand was perhaps the worst. It could, of course, be manipulated by chakra, but at far greater cost and regardless of skill or power, the results would be inferior.

Thus, Neji's pillar; the hardest, densest stone he could create without injuring himself. If they could damage it, there was a decent chance they could bypass Gaara's hypothesized armor.

Team Nine had all intentions of putting the rabid beast down during the survival portion of the Chuunin Exam. Sensei was most forthcoming when he shared his knowledge that the Ichibi jinchuuriki was being allowed to enter the Chuunin Exam being held in Konoha this year. Removing the maddened creature in the one on one combat phase was possible, if undesirable for a number of reasons; still unknown variables and personal risk chief amongst them.

Short of fighting on the open ocean, the Forest of Death was a near ideal environment to attempt an assassination of a sand-wielding monster. Even assuming Gaara had some way to produce sand aside from what he carried or what was immediately available in his surrounding environment, training ground forty four was damp and the soil saturated with water. If it came down to a fight, hopefully wet sand would not respond so quickly as when dry.

More important, however, than the advantageous battlefield, was the forest itself. Visibility would be greatly impeded beneath the all-encompassing canopy of massive trees. Team Nine, with the advantage of Neji's byakugan, could track Gaara with relative ease and pick the opportune moment to strike. While they were comfortably operating in the treetops, Gaara and his desert-dwelling siblings were unlikely to have much experience in such an environment.

There would only be a fight if the planned assassination failed.

xxxx

"You go first, Naruto," prompted Tenten once her blond teammate was finished absorbing excess heat from Neji's creation and they had retreated twenty meters or so from the pillar.

"You sure about that? With your lightning ninjutsu, you've got a big advantage here. You could probably ignore Gaara's armor entirely."

She nodded. "Yeah, it's possible, but we're trying to avoid a fight entirely. My techniques aren't exactly stealthy. If we attack from any real distance, Gaara will have time to dodge and then we'd have his whole team to deal with. You've got better range and can be absolutely silent if you want," Tenten countered.

They needed to strike from the shadows, eliminate their target, and fade away before anyone could detect their presence. Gaara's siblings would not be harmed if possible. Suna was an ally, after all.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Naruto admitted. "Okay, I'm gonna just use the top of the pillar so you can have the rest."

Since returning from Wind Country more than two months previously, Naruto now more often than not kept himself fully armored under his clothing. She had not mentioned it, but her private belief was that Naruto was afraid that another surprise attack like the one launched by Gaara could catch him unaware without the armor present, with fatal results. Of the two chakra iron rods he now had access to, this kept one unavailable. The remaining rod was more than enough. Tenten had never actually seen Naruto make simultaneous use of both as weapons.

A rod appeared in Naruto's hand at the boy's mental command. Tenten really wished she could do that with Kurokiri, but she was happy enough the sword was automatically summoned back to its sheath if she dropped it or was rendered unconscious.

Naruto set his feet and lined up for his first attempt. Tenten felt no telltale tingle of chakra usage as the rod lengthened at body flicker speeds, half its length thinning and blurring forward too quickly for her eyes to follow. Her youngest teammate's control continued to improve.

_SNICKT_

The impact was quieter than she expected and definitely did not sound like metal striking stone.

Just as quickly as it extended, the rod appeared whole and unchanged once more.

"I didn't even feel any resistance," Naruto bragged with a grin.

Inspection of the pillar revealed that it had been pierced completely through the upper section at a slight angle. The hole left by Naruto's attack was barely wider than a senbon.

"A similarly-sized wound could prove fatal," Neji concluded, "but it would need to be targeted precisely. Even a head wound of this diameter can be survived with luck."

"I don't think you should try for a piercing attack, Naruto," Tenten added. "If we do this right, the distance between us and Gaara should be more than ten times greater than you were for that attempt. Never mind the difficulty of aiming over that distance, the further you reach the thinner the rod becomes."

"The asshole probably wouldn't even feel it." Naruto sighed. "Do over!"

Naruto's follow-up attack lopped two-thirds of a meter off the top of the stone pillar.

xxxx

"I like the decapitation option." Naruto had had good results from that one. He'd yet to encounter anyone who could survive having their head removed; that would be kinda creepy.

With practice, he was fairly certain he could succeed on the first attempt, even at a range of two or three hundred meters. There was a big piece of missing woodland south of Konoha that proved he had more than enough reach. Even if he didn't get a perfectly clean hit, taking off just the top of Gaara's head or adding a neck and some torso would still be fatal.

"Me, too," agreed Tenten. "That thing moves so fast it can't possibly be tracked back to us, even if you do miss, no one is likely to notice."

"Well, I am a badass. Nothing new there," said Naruto with a laugh. "It's your turn now, Tenten. Teach that big rock who's the boss lady!"

"I think I will." The bun-haired girl grinned and flashed through a mere three hand signs, silently releasing her signature Storm Lance technique from a single fingertip. Tenten did not know half so many lightning techniques as Neji did earth ones, but she was extremely skilled in their use, especially her favorite. She'd steadily reduced the number of hand signs she required to cast the Storm Lance and hadn't needed to speak the technique's name for months.

The painfully intense beam of lightning chakra didn't create so much as a whisper of noise as it cut through the air in an instant. The point it impacted the pillar exploded into a cloud of dust and shrapnel and the stone itself _thrummed_ in the trailing concentrated blast of thunderous sound no one not on the receiving end could hear.

"That'll ruin someone's day," said Naruto once the dust settled and Team Nine was able to approach the stone to check Tenten's handiwork. Gingerly, he poked his finger into the head-sized divot blasted out of Tenten's target.

xxxx

"So, how do we want to play this, you guys?" Naruto asked. The first day of the Chuunin Exam had finally arrived and Team Nine was in their hidden bunker, once more checking that all of their gear was in place and in working order. The blond boy wore a new coat gifted to him the evening before by the Sandaime Hokage, and not a moment too soon. Not only had his old one grown too small, he'd accidentally destroyed it while decompressing the seals worked into the fabric. The sacrifice was worthwhile, though, because it had allowed him to affix similar seals to a pair of cloaks for Neji and Tenten. They weren't as high quality as Naruto's own and weren't intended to be permanent. Once they entered the Forest of Death, the older genin would don the cloaks to mask their chakra signatures just in case there were any stray chakra sensors wandering about.

The written portion of the exam did not start for nearly two hours. Naruto wasn't very enthusiastic about taking an actual test; he hadn't participated in one of those since before leaving the academy more than three years ago, but was confident in Sensei's exhaustive instruction in all things relevant to a ninja's career. And what he couldn't answer legitimately, well, that's what cheating was for. With a Hyuuga on the team and each member equipped with an upgraded pendent that allowed for a limited form of silent communication between the three genin, the test was a formality at best.

"I'm vetoing the loser kids option right now," said Tenten firmly. Though hardly rookies, they were very young to be competing in the exam. Appearing as weak children with barely any experience could cause other teams to overlook them, which would make slipping into the Forest of Death to complete their goal less of a hassle, but it could just as easily backfire and make them seem to be easy pickings. As far as Tenten was concerned, the entire team had worked too hard and come too far in the last eighteen months to downplay their skills in such a manner.

"That one wasn't my favorite, either." Naruto knew he would have ended up playing the fool if they tried that approach.

"Hide in plain sight?" she suggested. Their Transformation illusions were all exceptional, particularly Naruto's. He didn't often venture out into the village without being under at least a partial Transformation to disguise his armor.

"That would be preferable," Neji agreed. "So long as we do not physically interact with any other examinees, there are few who would suspect the subterfuge, let alone possess the ability to circumvent it."

"Awesome! I've got dibs on Sensei." Silently and without hand signs, Naruto Transformed his appearance to that of a younger version of Ebisu. Looking to be in his late teens now, Naruto crossed his arms and gave the barely there smirk he was used to seeing from the jounin.

Neji settled for simply adding a few years to his appearance while hiding his byakugan and Tenten not only aged herself, but removed her hair buns and went full redhead. Naruto thought the Transformation kinda made her look like his mother. All three disguised their customary apparel for the standard dark blue ninja gear favored by most of Konoha's older military forces.

"Remember, if we see anyone we know, play dumb. There's no point in disguising ourselves if we give it away," Tenten reiterated, mostly for Naruto's benefit. Beyond Neji, she had not kept up with anyone from her graduating class and the Hyuuga wasn't the friendly type. Her youngest teammate, however, had several friends he still met with regularly that could be in the exam.

xxxx

Not for the last time, and certainly not for the first, Sasuke eyed his temporary teammate with incredulity.

Fuki's loss to Team Seven had not only nearly kept them from competing in the Chuunin Exam, the team itself would have been disbanded if Sakura had gone through with her initial threats to resign from service as an active duty ninja. The pathetic girl may have been better off quitting. She wasn't very skilled as a ninja, to be honest. There were all sorts of important duties she could perform away from combat. Kakashi had even recommended Sakura go into the medical field, where her near perfect chakra control would be an asset even with her miniscule reserves. Amazingly, she had gathered her courage and decided to stick it out. Admirable, but stupid.

With Sakura still available, the untimely demise of Fuki left them one team member short of the three required for the exam. It would be just like that dead last loser to torment him even from the grave.

The last minute inclusion of Rock Lee, a genin with a year more experience than he or Sakura, was a blessing.

If you overlooked the older boy's glaring insanity, the green-clad simpleton was a frightening physical combatant. They had only been allowed two short weeks to grow acquainted before the exam, but in that time Sasuke had been unable to land a single clean blow against Lee in their taijutsu sessions. His fully matured three-tomoe bearing sharingan, gained on that blood-stained bridge in Wave Country, could predict most of Lee's movements, but Sasuke was simply not quick enough to make use of the information granted by his eyes. Pouring chakra into his muscles until they burned with agony didn't allow him to approach the boy's speed and the feats of strength he'd displayed were truly inhuman. Punching through trees and boulders without seeming to take notice was unnatural. Blocking Lee's hits was nearly as debilitating as leaving himself open and allowing them to connect unopposed.

There was some small consolation in learning that Lee could not employ ninjutsu or genjutsu in any form. Eventually, as Sasuke's chakra reserves and control grew along with the techniques he knew, the gap between himself and the taijutsu powerhouse would begin to close. Of course he had nothing in his current arsenal that could hit the older boy unless he purposely chose not to dodge.

Thankfully, when Kakashi allowed him to use genjutsu during training, Lee proved as hopeless in dispelling illusions as he was skilled in combat; if he recognized he was actually being affected by one at all. Seemingly with this weakness in mind, Lee had actually been trained to fight against Uchiha, despite the virtual extinction of his clan, and would carefully avoid looking him in the eye during their spars. Being unable to make eye contact severely limited his genjutsu arsenal, reducing it to the bare handful of traditional non-sharingan based illusions he'd been able to weasel out of Kakashi or pick up from spying on others.

It was a glaring weakness that Sasuke would exploit ruthlessly if they were matched against one another. The gods knew he didn't have any other chance of defeating the raving maniac. The Flames of Youth indeed…

Only in his darkest imaginings did Sasuke wish that he had been apprenticed to Might Guy, Lee's beloved mentor, instead of the lazy and less than helpful Hatake Kakashi. The obnoxiously loud buffoon had been able to turn a near failure like Lee into a monster. What could he have done with a gifted Uchiha willing to go to any length to increase his strength?

Now, as Lee meekly took his place behind more than a dozen other genin hopefuls in the _second_ floor corridor, Sasuke sighed and shook his head. Even Sakura had recognized the minor genjutsu disguising the classroom.

Truly, Rock Lee was an idiot savant. "Release," Sasuke muttered, channeling a flare of chakra into Lee's system to break the illusion.

xxxx

A/N: Yeah, I hope too many of you folks aren't very attached to Gaara. Team Nine is on a self-appointed mission…

I don't think I have it in me to read another version of the Chuunin Exam's written test, let along actually write it. I'd just as soon gouge my eyes out with a spoon. Next chapter, we enter the Forest of Death!

Much thanks go to my reviewers, you guys help motivate me to crank out these chapters day after day. ^_^

On an unrelated note, the stories I track on seem to be updating more slowly than normal. If anyone knows any good non-slash Naruto, HP, Ranma, SG-1, or similar stories that are well written and of non-trivial length, I would love a PM pointing me toward them.

Published: 6/27/2012


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Twenty Eight:

xxxx

Training ground forty four, the so-called Forest of Death, was home to all sorts of nasty creatures. Giant venomous centipedes, giant poisonous spiders…giant poisonous ! The list went on for a while before you arrived at the monstrously large fauna that was merely carnivorous without having some method to poison the unwary. Everything living within the Forest seemed to exist on a different scale to life outside in the normal world, even the trees themselves. Many of the massive trees had trunks much thicker than the Hokage's tower, some had _branches_ at least that thick, and most were so high that sight of the ground below was lost in an impenetrable shadowed abyss. The density of the canopy was such that little light filtered through to even the upper branches of the forested area.

Team Nine traveled through this unique environment, garbed in their black chakra masking cloaks and hidden behind illusions, using the interlocking branches of the forest as an aerial highway. It had not yet been necessary to interact with opposing teams. The forest was very large and this leg of the exam had begun less than half an hour previous.

They would have preferred to scout out the area prior to the exam. Stories and vague references in books and scrolls did not do the forest justice. Access to training ground forty four was regulated and the comings and goings of those who trafficked within monitored closely. With the Chuunin Exam only weeks away, they would have appeared suspicious if observed within the forest. It would be readily apparent Sensei had shared details of the exam they were not meant to know.

"You still tracking them, Neji?" asked Tenten. With only sixteen teams passing the psych experiment disguised as a written exam and each of those being randomly assigned one of the entry gates in the sixty three kilometers of perimeter fence surrounding the Forest of Death, they were lucky to have started close enough to Gaara's team for Neji to follow them with his byakugan.

"Yes. They are moving slowly along the floor of a less densely wooded section of the forest approximately one and a half kilometers south south-east from our position." Maintaining an active byakugan while the special eyes were under the effects of a Transformation illusion was difficult for more than a few minutes at a time. Upon entering the forest, Neji had allowed his false brown eyes to fade away and instead opted for wearing the darkly tinted goggles he'd made use of in Wind Country.

"They're really not used to working in forests," added Naruto. "I bet they're waiting for someone to attack them for their scroll."

"There is another team relatively close to our target. I cannot discern their village of origin. I do not recognize them as being among the Konoha contingent. They will intersect within the next two to three minutes at their current speeds."

"We can probably reach them in time if you guys want to handle Gaara before the other team gets involved."

"Yeah, let's do it," Naruto agreed with Tenten's proposal. "Even if the other team isn't from Konoha, they probably don't deserve whatever that crazy bastard will do to them." They were unsure of how the Heaven and Earth scrolls distributed to each genin team were marked, if a specific scroll could be traced back to its team of origin. Such tangible evidence that they had been anywhere near the Suna team was to be avoided. Were Gaara's team to have the Earth scroll to match their Heaven scroll, the decision had been made to destroy it to deprive another potential team. That option would only really matter at all if they were forced to eliminate the Ichibi jinchuuriki's siblings.

The trio of genin increased their speed dramatically, making use of sporadic body flickers to further shorten the distance to their destination. The sooner they arrived and finished the mission, the sooner they could go about the business of passing the exam.

xxxx

Far away, on the other side of the Forest of Death and well out of Neji's byakugan range, ancient trees were felled, some toppling over to be caught by in the limbs of their nearby fellow giants, while others exploded into splinters large enough to impale a Tailed Beast.

Locked within an insidious genjutsu illusion, Rock Lee rampaged unchecked. His seal-enhanced leg weights were nowhere to be found, thrown at some imagined enemy, and he'd gone so far as to open five of the Celestial Gates. Whatever manner of inner demon he fought, Uchiha Sasuke never wished to face it. Team Seven's temporary replacement had seemed strong before, now Sasuke could not find words to describe the sight he witnessed. Viewed through his sharingan, the destruction would be forever engraved within his mind in perfect unforgettable detail.

Of course, Lee's deforestation efforts were the least of Sasuke's concerns. He was currently helpless, paralyzed within the grasp of a rogue ninja claiming to be Orochimaru. Given the skills the serpent-like ninja displayed and the ease in which he'd neutralized Lee, Sasuke was willing to believe him.

"A remarkable young man," Orochimaru hissed in his ear. The bastard Sandaime's former pupil shifted, the elongated coils of his body tightening painfully around Sasuke's limbs and compressing his chest. Breathing was becoming difficult. "Perhaps I should mark him as well, Sasuke? The child's weakness to genjutsu is unbecoming of a ninja, but should provide a quite excellent means of control."

Sasuke wanted to retort, to do anything. He tried to speak and the coils tightened until he feared his bones might snap.

Orochimaru sighed dramatically. "Another time. I only brought a single gift to celebrate our meeting, Sasuke, and it is all yours."

The coils loosened slightly and he was able to take in a deep breath for the first time in what felt like hours. The crunching pain in his neck – had he just bitten him? – that followed forced the sweet air from his lungs in an explosive gasp.

The pain in his neck was forgotten an instant later, however, as a spike of purest agony flared from his brow. The seal placed by the bastard Hokage felt like a branding iron was being pressed into his flesh.

xxxx

A shrill whistling sound emitted from the crystal ball tucked away in Hiruzen's desk, startling the old man greatly enough that his tobacco pipe was now partially embedded in the door to his office in the Hokage Tower. Damnation. He'd liked that pipe.

This particular sound meant only one thing could have happened; it was tied to a very specific individual after all. Someone had just tried to forcibly place a seal onto Uchiha Sasuke's person. Had Danzo really been so brazen as to make his move during the Chuunin Exam? After the Uchiha boy's failed attempt to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals, part of a plan initiated by the traitor Mizuki, Hiruzen feared Danzo would take the opportunity to try to bring Sasuke under his control, Itachi's warning be damned. The crippled Elder had been most vocal, expressing his desire to 'guide' the Uchiha boy properly in the immediate wake of the incident with the scroll.

ANBU operatives were pouring into the room, but Hiruzen ignored them, hurriedly retrieving the crystal ball from its resting place to silence the ear rattling alarm. Time was of the essence now.

If the specially crafted seal he'd planted on Sasuke performed as designed, not only should the attempt to mark the boy have failed, Danzo himself should now be sealed. Unless the crippled Elder had somehow managed to circumvent the necessity of placing the seals upon his Root operatives; that was the danger with the type of anti-espionage array his former rival favored, they did not prevent you from being discussed by the affected individual unless you placed the seal yourself.

Hiruzen peered into the artifact and used his Telescope technique to ascertain Sasuke's whereabouts. With luck, the location of Root's main base could be compromised.

xxxx

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for this very short chapter, but I've got a flight to catch. Barring complications, I should be back in town by Sunday afternoon and regular updates will resume on Monday.

Have a good weekend, folks!

Published: 6/28/2012


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Twenty Nine:

xxxx

Sasuke was thrown from Orochimaru's grasp in a spasm of agony. The pain-blinded boy slid precariously close to the tremendous tree branch's gently curving edge, coming within centimeters of tumbling helplessly more than a hundred meters to the shadow-shrouded ground below.

"-have you," he heard his assailant roar through the pounding of blood in his ears, "-to me?"

Unable to comprehend the turn of events, let along respond, Sasuke struggled to move. He could not find his bearings, up was left and right was down and everything in between was even more confusing. What gods had he offended to deserve this torture?

xxxx

Orochimaru?

The pale-faced, screaming man viewed through Hiruzen's crystal ball was undoubtedly his former student, though he appeared decades younger than his rightful age. One of his most notable students not being true to their years was hardly a surprise. Of the three, only Jiraiya seemed unconcerned with the inexorable march of time.

Of all the possible scenarios that flitted through Hiruzen's mind when first alerted to the attempted sealing of Sasuke, Orochimaru making a play for the boy had not been high on the list. Actually, it had not been on the list at all. His former student hid himself exceptionally well and the few intelligence reports that crossed his desk pertaining to the rogue ninja were hopelessly vague or out of date. The man's latest confirmed whereabouts, courtesy of Jiraiya and his continent-wide network of informants, had placed him among a group of other S-Rank missing ninja with an unhealthy fascination on the Tailed Beasts. That information was _years_ old. Now his traitorous student was back in Konoha territory with unknown motives and goals, though one apparently involved placing a seal on Sasuke. A Curse Seal similar to the one affecting Anko?

Years earlier, Hiruzen had been faced with a choice. When Orochimaru's twisted experimentations were brought to light and he'd confronted the madman, there had been an opportunity to rid the world of his student's corruption. Hiruzen was ashamed to admit he'd balked, hesitating at the thought of killing his once favored student, even with his heinous crimes revealed. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade had been like his own children, no, they were the children he'd _wished_ to have. Eager pupils, attentive to their teacher, and undeniably powerful, they helped guide the village through two ninja wars. Any one of them worthy of being a Kage in their own right, they were his triumph, a legacy that would persist long after his death, ensuring the survival of Konoha.

The bitter revelation of Orochimaru's madness was too much for Hiruzen. He allowed his student to escape, much to the disgruntled dismay of his summoned familiar, Enma the Monkey King. The gruff old monkey didn't shy away from criticizing his lifelong summoner on the issue, that was for certain.

Now, opportunity presented itself once more. Through pure dumb luck or the will of the gods, the monster he'd created with all the love and care of a father and unending patience of a gifted instructor, was a single hand sign and a flare of chakra away from non-existence.

Hiruzen did not feel particularly merciful this afternoon.

xxxx

Neji silently signaled Team Nine to halt. They were very near the edge of the small clearing where Gaara and his siblings waited. Already the trees were thinning and brighter, unobstructed light was visible up ahead.

"This branch extends several meters through the foliage and should offer an adequate vantage point to launch an attack from, Naruto," advised Neji in a barely audible whisper. "We have less than a minute before the approaching team of Ame genin arrives." He cocked his head slightly and frowned. "Hinata and her team approach rapidly from the east. We will be in range of her byakugan shortly before the Ame team confronts our target."

Already a kink was working its way into their plans. Of all the participants competing in the Chuunin Exam, Hinata was the only other Hyuuga. It would be disappointing to have to abort their self-appointed mission because of a single ninja capable of determining their identities at such extreme range. An entire forest to roam and the girl had to lead her team to this isolated little corner.

"Right. No time to waste," Naruto replied quietly, nodding at his teammates. They would wait, ready to respond to his success or failure as the situation dictated.

Naruto already had his weapon of choice at hand and ready for use. The rod of pure chakra conductive iron had taken lives before, but this would be the first time he used it in such a manner, as a tool for cold-blooded assassination, silent and untraceable. Under the control of his unique chakra, the iron rod was an ideal weapon to kill silently from afar. Through trial in combat and the team's specialized training for this mission, he had yet to find anything capable of withstanding the cutting power of the chakra-infused rod when it was thinned down enough to form a blade, with the sole exception of Tenten's own lightning-empowered Kurokiri. They had not been quite foolhardy enough to test her weapon against the finest strands of iron he could manage, the nearly invisible wires that made a human hair seem thick and coarse.

Careful not to disturb overlarge leaves and mindful that even the smallest noise could give away his presence to an alert ninja, Naruto left his teammates standing near the tree trunk while he jogged toward the end of the branch. Slipping between greenery and smaller shoots that began to split off from the massive limb the closer he came to its end, he eventually found the spot Neji spoke of, where it broke from the canopy and overhung the edge of the clearing Gaara waited in. By this point he was on his belly and shimmying across the much reduced circumference of the shrinking limb.

If they detected his approach, the three ninja of Suna gave no sign.

The eldest of the Suna trio, Temari, was pretty in a no-nonsense and severe kind of way; her odd hairstyle was definitely eye catching. Her enormous Suna-style battle fan marked her as wind-natured and not likely a subtle one at that. She was tense, Naruto noticed absently, but then again, his earlier observations of the older girl indicated that wariness might be her default state of being, never consciously taking her eyes off her youngest brother. Was that just concern for the insane jinchuuriki's wellbeing or did she, his own sister, fear the boy's madness?

The Kazekage's second eldest, Kankurou, stood opposite Temari on Gaara's left side. His purple-painted face was not visible from Naruto's perch and the baggy black body suit the older boy wore made it difficult to discern body language very well, but he could tell Kankurou was far more relaxed than his sister or at least hid his anxiety with greater skill. The bundle on his back was probably a puppet. Combat puppetry was a unique art practiced only by a small fraction of Suna ninja. The Suna trio did have something of a theme going when it came to odd accessories; a giant gourd, an over-sized fan, and a conspicuous puppet. They were not shy about advertising their styles.

The Ichibi's jinchuuriki radiated a generalized killing intent, not directed at any one individual, just filling the air with a sense of pent up bloodlust. As far as Naruto could tell, that was normal for the redheaded jinchuuriki. All through the first portion of the exam, only meters away from the boy he planned to kill, Naruto had felt Gaara's literal desire to spill blood. The sand-wielding ninja truly was a rabid beast.

xxxx

The sudden absence of soul-searing pain was the most pleasant experience of Sasuke's short life.

From one second to the next, Sasuke was no longer in agony. The seal hidden beneath his forehead protector didn't feel as if it were melting its way through his skull and the pain from his other injuries, fractured bones and deep tissue trauma on top of numerous minor wounds, were hardly noticeable now that he knew what true torment felt like.

No longer incapacitated, he could hear Orochimaru himself screaming in pain and rage. Cracking an eye open, he could see the rogue ninja who'd so thoroughly dismantled Team Seven now thrashing about in what appeared to be the most violent seizure in history. He'd lost track of Sakura's location early in the exchange and sometime during the seal-induced torture, Lee's genjutsu fueled rampage through the forest had come to an end if the lack of ongoing destruction was any guide.

Orochimaru's limbs were flailing about fluidly in a way solid bones should make anatomically impossible and their length was visibly changing as he watched. Arms, legs, and even his neck shortened and elongated randomly, whipping through the air and slamming into the tree branch like the serpents he favored. The screams were truly unnatural, louder than any normal person could produce, and sometimes so high in pitch that Sasuke couldn't detect them with his merely human hearing.

He had to move, to escape before whatever had affected the rogue ninja wore off and he was once more at the man's mercy. That was easier said than done, however, since his range of movement seemed limited to kneeling in place and panting for breath.

As Orochimaru thrashed about, shattering the bark and wood beneath him in his convulsions, Sasuke caught sight of a something that made his heart race. There, on the once unmarred snake belly-pale flesh of the monster's forehead sat an identical copy of the seal Sasuke himself had been marked with for the past six months. Even with only a fleeting glance before convulsions once more hid it from view, Sasuke would never mistake that seal for anything else. He'd stared at his own mark in the mirror often enough. A six-pointed star and six corresponding dots between each point, enclosed within an unbroken circle, the seal was unique as far as his research, limited as it may be with the resources available to him, could determine.

Was the bastard Hokage's seal contagious like some sort of disease? Had Orochimaru inadvertently absorbed it when performing his last bite attack?

xxxx

"Activate!" Hiruzen commanded with a shout and surge of chakra, fully engaging the seal inscribed on his former student.

Limiting the seal's passive functionality and dedicating most of the array to the contingent effects he could activate at will had allowed Hiruzen a great deal of leeway for handling the target he once assumed would be Danzo. He could have chosen to inflict any number of effects on the target; paralysis, blindness, incontinence, and so on. The ultimate option, of course, was death. It would be a relatively painless end, especially compared to the suffering caused by transplanting a full array in a single swift burst, with one's entire chakra network turned inward and suborned into a modified suicide kinjutsu.

Steely gaze turned toward the crystal ball now displaying Orochimaru's spastic, defenseless form, Hiruzen watched the seal turn blue with glowing chakra as it activated. The blue burned away in an instant, replaced by a vile, purplish black as it began to feed on the chakra of its victim.

xxxx

If Gaara was armored in some way by his sand, Naruto was unable to say, because the single razor-edged wire used to carry out the assassination planned by Team Nine met with no discernable resistance as it passed cleanly through the target's neck. Without weeks of practice, Naruto would probably not have been able to spare the older siblings from his attack, but controlling the flight and movements of his wire work was becoming nearly instinctive now. Launching a wire forward then snapping it through the desired backstroke to decapitate Gaara was easy.

Hopefully allowing Temari and Kankurou to live would not come back to bite Team Nine in their collective asses.

Naruto did not wait around to see the results of his handiwork. Neji was more than capable of passing along that information as they withdrew to their fallback point.

xxxx

Sasuke watched, disbelieving, as Orochimaru expired in a towering gout of black-streaked purple flame. Even fifteen meters away, the diseased chakra leaking from the pillar of flame made him nauseous.

In moments, nothing remained of the formerly powerful traitor but a greasy splotch and an acrid cloud of rapidly dispersing green smoke. The bastard Hokage's seal was quite obviously fatal. Was that the fate that awaited him if he went rogue as Itachi had?

"Urrgh," the boy gasped, climbing to his feet through a supreme effort of will; whatever remaining energy he had seemed spent by that expenditure. He was numb except for an odd throbbing itch where Orochimaru had bitten him. A ninja like Orochimaru would not bother to inject him with a trivial poison. He needed medical attention soon or the Hokage would never have a chance to incinerate him with his damned seal.

"Sasuke!" Sakura's exclamation startled the youngest Uchiha. He had not detected her approach. "Thank the gods, you're alive!"

He could just barely shift his position and turn his head enough to locate his pink-haired teammate. The girl looked mostly intact, if disheveled, and most of her once long hair had been burned away since he'd last seen her. Orochimaru had not employed any fire techniques. Had his own last ditch effort to combat the rogue, before the man's identity was revealed and he stopped playing around, done the damage? Some stray portion of his mind that wasn't in shock noted that his fire ninjutsu were powerful enough that caution must be exercised lest he carelessly reduce his allies to ash.

Hanging limply from Sakura's shoulder was their temporary teammate, Rock Lee. The older boy looked like he'd just fought a war. His garish green body suit was half torn away, the linen bandages normally wrapped around his hands and forearms were gone, and he bled from dozens of wounds, large and small. Lee regarded him with a single eye, the other swollen shut along with the massive darkening bruise decorating that side of his face. Weakly, with his right arm, the left was suffering from a compound fracture and crudely bound and splinted, Lee gave a pained, trembling thumbs up.

"I, I think I've been poisoned," Sasuke managed to communicate. Then he could no longer hold his eyes open and the world consumed by darkness.

xxxx

Temari would almost have assumed Gaara was playing a joke if she hadn't known the boy possessed nothing recognizable as a sense of humor. He found crushing people into puddles of gore amusing, not pranking his big sister.

So, when her youngest brother's head literally fell off, accompanied by a squirting shower of bright red arterial blood pumped by a heart that didn't know it was about to die, she could be excused for her startled scream. The headless body collapsed to the blood-soaked ground a moment later. Gaara's signature gourd, itself composed of the sand he controlled, lost its rigid form and collapsed. The mass of sand released buried most of her youngest brother, leaving only the still bleeding stump of his neck and separated head uncovered. Upon later reflection, she would see some irony in that memory. Gaara died like he lived, surrounded in bloody sand, though this time the blood belonged to him instead of some hapless victim.

"No way!" exclaimed Kankurou. The surviving brother leaped back and away from the corpse of the Ichibi's container, sweeping the perimeter of the clearing for hidden enemies. Invisible chakra strings extended from his finger tips, reflexively reaching back to connect to his Karasu puppet. The flimsy bindings containing the puppet split apart and allowed the three-eyed wooden construct to move freely.

Hyper alert after witnessing the death of their insane kid brother, both older genin heard the approaching ninja team seconds before they descended into the clearing from the overhanging trees above.

"Well, well, it looks like someone decided to start the party without us, boys," mocked the lead Ame ninja. Standing behind him, his two hat wearing compatriots tittered darkly.

"You did this?" Temari snarled, gesturing to the remains of her brother. She did not wait for a response, hoisting her battle fan and opening it partially to reveal a single large purple dot.

xxxx

Team Nine sprinted through the forest at their best possible speed, taking a route nearly perpendicular to their original course trailing the Suna team and directly away from Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto's former classmate could reveal their secret if she inadvertently witnessed them in close proximity to the scene of their crime.

"Gaara is down," Neji assured Tenten and Naruto as soon as the younger boy rejoined them.

"What about the Ichibi?" Tenten asked as they ran.

"I can't see the seal itself, but there is no chakra emanating from Gaara's corpse," answered Neji.

"The containment array shouldn't begin to fail for a while," Naruto added. "Without the framework of Gaara's chakra network to work with, it'll begin to fray soon. Demonic chakra will be leaking out in a few hours at least, maybe a day at most." Though it gave no real details on how to go about sealing a Tailed Beast, one of Naruto's books, another Uzumaki volume given to him by the Hokage, had several pages near the back dedicated to discussing known sealing methods employed in the past to trap the demonic creatures. Pros and cons of various sealing methods were weighed against side-effects on the jinchuuriki, the amount of demonic chakra that could be accessed, and most importantly for Naruto's research, the stability of the containment array following a jinchuuriki's death.

"The Ichibi is supposed to be the weakest of the Tailed Beasts," he continued, "so unless his seal is really shoddy, we're probably looking at the high end of twenty four hours before it begins to disperse." Barring forcible extraction through highly specialized methods developed over decades of trial and error by the villages that claimed ownership of the demons, death of a jinchuuriki was the next most viable method of removing a Tailed Beast from its host. Then you just had to hope your seal masters were good at their job and could work well under pressure, because the stronger your pet demon, the less time you had to transfer its prison. Naruto had already passed this information along to his teammates once before, but figured they could use the reassurance. It wasn't every day that you played a part in freeing a demon from its cage, even one that would likely require years before it could coalesce to the point of being a danger.

"Good," said Tenten with a sigh. They'd be a disgrace as a team if they couldn't find an Earth scroll and reach the safety of the central tower well before the seal could begin to fail. Even if the Ichibi wouldn't manifest a new body in the lush Forest of Death, it was a desert creature after all, that didn't mean they wanted to be very close to so much demonic chakra, either. Naruto might by the Kyuubi's container, but he'd yet to make use of its chakra. He was polite like that.

"The Ame team has made contact with the remaining Suna ninja. Hinata shows no sign of having detected our actions with her byakugan." His fellow genin had worked with Neji long enough to tell by the tone of his voice that it would be the final update he gave dealing with Gaara's siblings. Though his head didn't turn and his eyes remained fixed, it was obvious the Hyuuga's attention was now focused decidedly forward.

"Mission accomplished!" Naruto whispered enthusiastically. With only the slightest exertion, he and his teammates had just flawlessly executed a devastatingly powerful foe, without having needed to engage in combat. It was a silent kill carried out directly under Temari's and Kankurou's noses. Oh yeah, he totally had this ninja thing down pat. "Time to find an Earth scroll and get out of here."

xxxx

A/N: We're well off the rails now, folks. Gaara is dead and Orochimaru kept him company on their trip to Hell.

I wanted to get this out yesterday, but had too many things on my plate to take care of first. I'll be keeping the updates coming, though they may slow down a little bit. Real life concerns are cropping up to steal my time and energy. If I don't get one out tomorrow, I hope all of my fellow American readers have a nice Independence Day. Happy belated Canada Day, my neighbors to the north!

Please remember to review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated and help keep me on task.

Published: 7/3/2012


	30. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Thirty:

xxxx

No longer hidden within their chakra masking cloaks but still disguised by Transformation illusions, the genin of Team Nine stood within sight of an entrance to the central tower of training ground forty four. Finding a team of Kusa genin after dealing with Gaara hadn't taken fifteen minutes and incapacitating them less than twenty seconds. Between Neji rising from beneath the earth at their back and a genjutsu from Tenten, it had been a quick and gentle subdual. The Kusa team had the Earth scroll they needed as well as an additional Heaven scroll.

"Should we set a record time for clearing this stage of the exam or hang back and take out more of the competition?" queried Tenten. The bun-haired girl was warily fiddling with a mechanism she'd loot from one of the unconscious Kusa ninja; that village was known throughout the continent as second only to Suna when it came to the creation and use of poisons, and nicking herself on one of the gauntlet's retracting blades would be a whole new level of unpleasant if it turned out to be poisoned in some manner.

Naruto laughed at the images Tenten's question inspired in his imagination. "How awesome would it be if the deadline comes and we're the only team qualified to move on to the third stage of the exam?" It would certainly make a statement.

"The sooner we finish, the less likely anyone will be able to connect us with Gaara's demise," Neji pointed out. "The likelihood of being implicated is admittedly small, but we should not tempt fate."

With a sigh, Naruto agreed, "Yeah, that's true. As much as you talk about it, we don't need to give fate a reason to stop by and visit us." He grinned at his joke, earning a sad headshake from Tenten and a quirked eyebrow from Neji. "Oh, come on, you guys. That was a good one!"

"Keep right on thinking that, Naruto," teased Tenten. "Neji does have a point, though. We're this far ahead already, there's no point in taking extra risk. A stupid accident or a lucky hit could put one of us down hard enough to take the team out of the competition."

Though he grumbled about his teammates not appreciating his sense of humor, Naruto couldn't find fault with Tenten or Neji's logic. "Let's go break a record then. It's not like there were many teams to begin with. There'll probably just be a few more that finish with two scrolls." With sixteen teams entering the Forest of Death, each needing an Earth and Heaven scroll, the most that could possibly go through would be eight teams. They'd already taken one Suna team out of the running through removing a member and the Kusa team they'd waylaid counted for another. The Kusa ninjas' extra scroll removed yet another team from the exam.

xxxx

Sasuke once more found himself trapped in a hospital bed with the bastard Hokage to keep him company. Knowing the condition he'd been in when he lost consciousness, he felt surprisingly good. He was in pain, of course, but it was more like the burn of a very intense workout than the agony of broken bones and torn muscles.

At least he could see the old man now, along with the much more pleasant form of the purple-haired exam proctor who had made everyone sign release forms before entering the Forest of Death. Considering how Team Seven's short time spent in the area had gone, perhaps the crazy woman had the right idea with those forms.

"Ah, Sasuke, I regret that we must once again meet under such poor circumstances," said the Hokage with a small, sad smile. Sasuke glared at the man, wishing fiercely that his sharingan would activate. The bastard and his guest weren't likely to be intimidated by such a display of power, but he himself would certainly be comforted by the altered vision it granted him. His chakra would not obey even so simple a command, however, and his black eyes remained mundane.

"Oy, you little shit, you should be begging to clean the bottom of Hokage-sama's sandals with your fucking tongue for what he did for you," growled the exam proctor, Anko, if he recalled correctly, "not giving him the stink-eye". What the bastard had done for him? Seal him like some Hyuuga trash? Cause him the most intense pain he'd ever experienced?

The bastard Hokage sighed and gave Anko a look that spoke of great patience growing strained. "Please, Anko, young Sasuke does not understand what he has become involved in." The woman, a deadly ninja of Konoha, crossed her arms over her generous chest and pouted like a reprimanded child. "Would you please show Sasuke your Curse Seal?"

Anko nodded stiffly and approached closer the Sasuke's bed. She pulled back the high collar of her brown coat, tilting her head so that the left side of her neck was visible. The tight grouping of three tomoe in a formation, much like those of his own sharingan, was revealed. The woman did not stay in that position for long, retreating to the Hokage's side a moment later.

"It may not look like much," explained the old man, "but those marks represent Orochimaru's Curse Seal of Heaven. Anko received it from my former student when she served on his team more than a decade ago. Beyond the ninety percent fatality rate, the seal is able to greatly influence one's emotions and serves as a conduit for Orochimaru's control; resisting any command from him while bearing such a seal is an extreme effort of will and his genjutsu becomes nigh irresistible. There are, however, short term advantages to using the seal. It acts as a secondary chakra source and can temporarily mimic some of the effects of opening one or more of the Celestial Gates. The drawback to this power boost is the deleterious effects it has on the body, corrupting the chakra network irreparably and degrading the mind itself."

That was the _gift_ Orochimaru had given him? A mind control seal in all but name, which would screw up his chakra and destroy his mind, all for a short term boost in chakra? If that maniac Lee could open the Celestial Gates, Uchiha Sasuke certainly didn't need a suicidal shortcut to achieve the same results.

"Can you remove it from me?" he asked, sounding much calmer than he felt. A ninety percent fatality rate…

Anko snorted and the Hokage smiled. "There is no need, Sasuke. When Orochimaru attempted to implant you with his Curse Seal, my own seal prevented its success."

Sasuke's eyes widened at this revelation. As the Hokage explained further, the boy returned to that surprised state several times. He was no longer sealed because it had been that seal which had killed Orochimaru; the torturous pain he'd experienced was merely the side-effect of the seal migrating to his attacker. The snake bastard might be gone, but now he had to be on the lookout for the seal's originally intended target, a village Elder named Shimura Danzo. That one wanted to turn him into just as much of a puppet as Orochimaru, complete with a seal to ensure his loyalty. If it hadn't been a once in a lifetime kind of seal, he would have almost been tempted to ask the Hokage to put another one on his brow, just in case.

Someday, he would apologize for planning to murder the old man on a regular basis for the better part of six months. Knowing why he'd been sealed in the first place would have made a big damned difference, not some half assed excuse about guaranteeing his loyalty to the village. The thought of turning traitor was ridiculous. As if he'd follow in Itachi's footsteps like that.

"Along with the Curse Seal, Orochimaru injected you with an unknown enzyme that without the seal's guiding presence is acting like an especially potent chakra poison. The medics are purging it from your system and assure me you will make a full recovery from both the poison and your other extensive injuries. Unfortunately, you will not be restored to fighting shape until well after the survival portion of the exam is complete."

Meaning he was out of the running for promotion to chuunin rank.

"For the sake of fairness to other participating teams, I cannot give Team Seven a bye into the tournament portion of the exam if enough teams succeed in the forest to warrant preliminary bouts. In the event that preliminaries are not necessary, I will allow you and your teammates to compete in the tournament with the caveat that you cannot be promoted. Your performance will be noted and, if favorable, added to your files to give additional weight to your chances of promotion in the next Chuunin Exam."

It galled him to do it, Sasuke thought that might be bile he tasted in the back of his throat, but he forced himself to murmur, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

He was quite sincere.

xxxx

"Aren't you one of the ladies who are normally at the mission assignment desk?" Naruto asked. After getting over their surprise at seeing something as rare as human summoning used to pass on an old parable to teams successfully reaching the tower, Team Nine followed the black-haired female chuunin, who introduced herself as Sasame, through the poorly lit bowels of the tower.

"I occasionally serve shifts at the mission desk," she acknowledged with a nod.

"What would have happened if you were on duty when we summoned you?" Naruto refrained from asking about other scenarios, like if she were sleeping or in the shower, or worse. He could imagine the look on some ninja's face as he reached out to take a mission scroll from the chuunin, only for her to disappear in a puff of smoke.

The chuunin rolled her eyes and grinned at him. It was the 'humor the silly little boy' look he disliked. At least it wasn't the 'I wish the mouthy little demon brat would shut up and die' glare. "Those of us who get this assignment aren't on regular duty during this stage of the Chuunin Exam. We just hang out in the summoning chamber for an eight hour shift each day. I was planning to catch up on my reading, but you kids had to set a record and get to the tower in an hour. That time is absolutely amazing, by the way."

Naruto laughed outright and Tenten smiled at the backward compliment. It was difficult to tell when Neji was amused, though Naruto was getting better at it. The Hyuuga boy was either smiling on the inside or had an itch he didn't want to scratch in front of other people.

"Ha, Team Nine is badass, Sasame! Remember us, 'cause we're going places!" cheered the young blond boy.

That statement didn't just earn an eye roll, it also got Naruto playfully ruffled hair. His restrained stabbing reflex complained mightily.

They were led to a large suite of rooms on the third floor of the tower. The furniture within was old, but well maintained, and the cobwebs and dust kept at a minimum. Spending the next four nights indoors would be much more comfortable than camping out in the Forest of Death as they hunted other genin teams.

"These suites were originally meant for the eight man garrison squads, so there are enough rooms for each of you. There are communal bathrooms at either end of the corridor. We passed the mess hall on the ground level; it was down the first left hand corridor. I doubt there's actually anyone there with food at the moment, since the proctors probably weren't expecting anyone to show up this soon. If you packed your own rations, I would recommend sticking with them, because I know what they plan on serving down there." She winced exaggeratedly.

"If you have any questions, there will be exam proctors making regular patrols of the tower, or you can just find one of them downstairs. Good luck, kids."

Before their escort could depart, Naruto quickly apologized, "We're sorry for taking you off such an easy assignment so quickly, Sasame."

She chuckled and tried to ruffle his hair again. This time he was wary of her and managed to dodge out of reach. "You've got nothing to apologize for, kid. This was a five day assignment. After I leave here, I'm basically on paid vacation."

xxxx

Temari's hands shook as she once more attempted to seal the remains of her youngest brother into the black-edged sealing scroll the timid Hyuuga girl had provided her. Though she was familiar with the use of storage scrolls, the array continued to reject Gaara despite her best efforts. Maybe it was a result of Shukaku still locked within him? No one had ever mentioned how the Ichibi's seal would interact with a storage array. Father wouldn't care, but Elder Chiyo would probably be interested. She closed her eyes, gratefully looking away from the body laid out before her. It was sad to see that in death, Gaara looked more at peace than he ever had in life, merely a tired child instead of a murderous lunatic.

Would the invasion still go on as planned? Suna could scrounge up perhaps a quarter of the forces Konoha could field, and a portion of those had to be left at home to defend the village. Gaara wasn't just their village's not so secret weapon, he'd also been the lynchpin of the invasion plan, contributing far more to the overall attack strategy than the rest of the Suna ninja combined. Without the overwhelming destructive power he could unleash by giving Shukaku temporary control in the middle of Konoha, the Leaf ninjas would have every advantage but surprise.

"I-I'm so s-sorry about your b-brother," stuttered the Hyuuga girl from behind her. The Konoha genin had come to her and Kankurou's aid against the Ame ninja who had somehow managed to kill Gaara. That one-eyed bastard who controlled hundreds of airborne senbon with his chakra must have used some sort of flying blade attack to decapitate Gaara before entering the clearing. And to think that they'd been waiting to fall upon the first team to have the misfortune of making a play for their scroll.

Pushing aside thoughts of invading the host village of the Chuunin Exam, Temari rose to her feet with a long sigh. On top of dealing with her brother's death, no matter how much she feared him in life, she didn't need to add guilt to the mix. Here she was thinking about destroying the homes of the team of children who had rushed to their aid.

"He's in a better place now," she replied quietly. He was probably in a far _worse_ place, but that wasn't what people wanted to hear when they attempted to comfort you in a time of grief. She really wished it had been one of her wind ninjutsu techniques to kill the one-eyed Ame ninja instead of the claws of the Inuzuka boy, even if asphyxiating on your own blood due to a ripped out trachea was a lot less pleasant way to die than just being sliced to ribbons.

"Thank you for the scroll, but I don't think it's compatible with Gaara's body. His physiology and chakra were…unique." She rolled the small storage scroll back up with a snap of her wrist and handed it to the pale-eyed girl.

Rather than reply, the Hyuuga just shrunk into herself and gave a small nod.

To Kankurou, who was inspecting the rather severe damage inflicted to Karasu while being observed by the girl's two teammates and an obnoxiously cute ninja puppy, she said, "We're going to have to carry Gaara to the tower." And they needed to do it fast, too. They had to find Baki and get home quickly. There was no telling how soon the seal containing Shukaku would last now that Gaara was dead.

Her remaining brother shrugged and tossed her a bundle of bandages like those he used to conceal his puppet. "Get him ready to travel and I'll see if I can't get Karasu cobbled back together well enough to carry him for us."

She scowled at the younger boy. Not only was he more concerned about his stupid puppet than his own severely sprained if not outright broken ankle, he was leaving her with the task of binding Gaara's corpse. What was she supposed to do, tie his head back on?

Why couldn't she have had sisters? Gaara probably wouldn't have been half so crazy if he was female and Kankurou's 'war paint' would likely be a great deal less ridiculous if he'd ever bothered to learn to apply makeup.

xxxx

"What is it? We're talking about something important here," Anko snapped. The man who had just entered the room in a hurry and interrupted her conversation with two of her subordinates held a rare and expensive video tape in his hand.

She was not in the mood to deal with this shit. She'd just come from the infirmary where Team Seven was being treated for their various injuries by a cadre of medical ninja specially assigned to the tower until the second portion of the exam ended. It'd been a long day of dealing with rug rats and a lot more paperwork and aggravation than she'd expected when she accepted the position as lead proctor for the survival test.

Then, Orochimaru had to go and get himself burnt to a greasy crisp when she wasn't even around to see it happen. That was followed by discovering the ungrateful Uchiha brat was spared a Curse Seal by the skin of his teeth while she'd lived with the abomination for as long as the kid had been alive. It didn't even have the courtesy to fade away now that its creator was dead.

"Excuse me," he apologized again, at least having the decency to show a flash of fear when confronted by her ire. "But…uh…Please look at this!"

"The video?" she asked with a put upon sigh. The ninja wouldn't be running about with the tape without reason. Those things cost as much as a well paying C-Rank mission on a good day.

The playback device, which still amazed her with its presence in this isolated and neglected outpost in the Forest of Death, accepted the video tape as the ninja spoke. "Ready? Here, look at the time!"

The large television screen was lit by a few moments of static before an overhead shot of three genin came into view. Even from behind, Anko recognized them as a Konoha team. They belonged to that stuck up prick Ebisu. He didn't brag about his genins' prowess among the other jounin instructors, he merely looked smug. Smug and confident like he knew a great secret and was just waiting for everyone else to figure it out.

What she was seeing was _impossible_. The captured footage was obviously from within the tower, yet the timestamp on the video indicated that it had been taken at 1529 hours, less than an hour after the exam started.

Confirming what she'd already seen, the goateed proctor said, "It's a recording from inside the tower, only fifty nine minutes after the start of the second test!"

Son of a bitch! Ebisu's brats weren't genin, not where it really mattered. Breaking the old record by nearly five hours? That was downright disgusting.

It sucked having potentially lucrative insider information and being forbidden from using it to make a killing betting on the ringers just because she was a proctor. Why had she volunteered for this duty again?

xxxx

A/N: Wow, you guys' responses from the last chapter were incredible. Thanks for your support! ^_^

I won't be killing off any more important main characters for a while.

To those of you who were concerned that Gaara's automatic sand defense didn't protect him from Naruto's attack, here's how I imagined it to function: Though the defense was automatic, it still relied on his sensory input to determine incoming threats. Gaara may not have been aware of an attack coming on a conscious level, but our sensory organs take in far more data than we can process from moment to moment, and among that information would be cues the Shukaku could use to manipulate the sand to protect him. The telltale sound of an approaching kunai would set trigger the defenses, while Gaara walking across a patch of ground with explosive tags hidden just beneath the surface would not. The razor wire used by Naruto was so miniscule and moved so quickly, Gaara simply wasn't able to register it with his senses. If this runs contrary to canon, we'll just have to consider it a slight AU, since I don't recall every incident where Gaara was protected by his sand.

Please remember to review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated and help keep me on task.

Published: 7/4/2012


	31. Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Thirty One:

xxxx

"You guys sure about this?" asked Kiba. In each hand he held a scroll; the Heaven scroll, still sticky with the blood of the Ame ninja who possessed it a short time earlier, along with the Suna team's Earth scroll. Team Eight would have three, counting their own Earth scroll. That was enough to complete the test and knock another team out of the running. Too bad the foreigners' kid brother had to lose his head like that.

Kankurou, black hood thrown back and his face paint smudged around the edges, nodded gruffly. "Yeah, man, take'em. They're not doing us any good now." The puppeteer was handling his brother's loss a lot better than Kiba thought he would have, if it had been Hana who was killed. Even for a dude wearing makeup, he probably didn't want to look upset in front of a bunch of kids from another village.

The Suna ninja's hot older sister agreed. "Without Gaara, we'll be disqualified." She glanced off to the side, where Kankurou's oversized puppet held the bandage-wrapped bundle that was her youngest brother. The puppet gave Kiba the creeps. Not only did it smell positively toxic, it just looked _off_, inhuman in a way that offended his sense of form. "Please accept our Earth scroll as thanks for assisting against the Ame scum." Temari seemed more upset of the two. Kiba was pretty sure he'd seen her dabbing at her eyes with the end of her sleeve. Girls could get away with stuff like that without looking weak.

ARF! ARF!

Akamaru leapt from his perch on Kiba's head, launching himself for the older girl. She caught the enthusiastic ninja puppy and laughed as he proceeded to lick her face most vigorously.

ARF! ARF!

Kiba fought down a blush at the puppy's suggestion, glad Naruto wasn't around to translate for anyone.

"Let's get to the tower. We need to report to Baki and you three should get some rest in case there's more to the exam." Kankurou waved his hand, wiggling his fingers as he did so, and the creepy corpse-bearing puppet came to life, standing on its own then leaping to a tree limb ten meters above their heads.

xxxx

"Lord Orochimaru is dead," announced Yakushi Kabuto to his fellow spies. Of the three traitorous genin of Konoha, he was the only one of any note. Yoroi and Misumi were barely more than cannon fodder, given just enough information to be useful, but not enough to be dangerous, and quite expendable. To a master spy like Kabuto, his teammates were nearly as much of a burden as they were an asset. They did, however, provide good alibis when necessary and sometimes an extra pair of hands was more useful than all the skill in the world.

"What?" Misumi almost yelped. Professionalism was dead, along with their boss, apparently. It was an effort not to show blatant disdain for his teammate. Of all the surgical upgrades he could have requested to increase his combat potential, the man had chosen something so asinine as a Soft Physique-type modification. There were ninjutsu techniques to temporarily mimic the modification with none of the long term side-effects.

"I observed Lord Orochimaru's total destruction by an unknown force after he attempted to mark Uchiha Sasuke with a Curse Seal," Kabuto reiterated. ANBU operatives had arrived at the scene of his master's death with alarming speed, forcing him back into hiding before he could even strike out at the Uchiha boy in revenge. Hours later, when the area was once more clear of interlopers, he was able to examine the area where Orochimaru perished. Nothing of the snake summoner's remains was left to be found and the last wisps of his chakra signature were dissipating on the evening breeze. Whatever method was used to strike down the powerful ninja, it appeared to originate with Sasuke, and affected the boy alongside Kabuto's deceased master, though not to the same extent. An Uchiha kinjutsu he'd never heard mention of?

"What do we do now?"asked Yoroi pragmatically. Yoroi was a more solid sort than Misumi, still dumb as a brick and totally lacking in imagination, but he stuck to a given plan without question and followed orders precisely. The man's ability to absorb chakra so easily had actually been examined by Orochimaru and incorporated into the modifications made to Jirobo, one of the Sound Four. It was a power Kabuto eventually wished to acquire for himself, either with Orochimaru's aid or through his own efforts. Supplementing his own near-miraculous but costly ability to heal himself with the stolen chakra of others would increase his threat on the battlefield significantly.

Yoroi had asked a pertinent question. In the long term, Kabuto did not have any plans; he'd been riding Orochimaru's coattails for years now, and what a ride it had been! He had unprecedented freedom, when away from the supervision of the useless jounin instructor assigned to his team, to perform any experiment he wished, on subjects living or dead, using the fantastic resources his master had gathered. Incredible devices unearthed from ancient medical facilities by Orochimaru during his quest for immortality opened up so very many possibilities.

In the short term, however, there was much to be done and he had no predetermined goals to word toward.

The invasion was off the table now, of course. Lacking a suitable counter to the Sandaime Hokage alone, despite the man's advanced age, would have been ruinous to any hostile force attacking Konoha. Without Orochimaru to goad the Yondaime Kazekage into action, Suna's continued cooperation was in doubt, and their ninja force, while smaller than Sound's, was of far greater overall quality and effectiveness. The rogue ninja's death also removed the snake summons from Sound's arsenal. Much of the invasion plan relied on several of Manda's largest offspring to breach the nearly impenetrable walls of Konoha. An attack was still possible, but it would be a fruitless waste of men and materials.

"There is a team of Sound genin participating in the exam. We will remove them. They have become liabilities." The mouthy runts weren't intelligent enough to keep quiet. Their misplaced confidence and the laughable arrogance instilled in them by Orochimaru's rhetoric could lead to unpleasantness if the Hokage decided to announce the man's demise before Kabuto could make arrangements to depart.

The infrastructure and assets, human and otherwise, assembled by Orochimaru were still of great value. They were decentralized, spread over the entirety of the Elemental Nations, with little authority vested in any single individual. There were few among those gathered by Orochimaru who could challenge him directly. If he acted quickly and consolidated his power, it was possible that Kabuto could assume control of his former master's organization. Or, if the fancy struck him, he could simply raid the scattered bases for valuable research data and the more interesting machines and leave the rest to be picked over by scavengers. Decision, decisions.

Whatever course of action he chose, for now it would be best to keep Sound from being implicated in any threats to Konoha, overt or covert.

xxxx

"Damn, Old Man, this is a nasty piece of work!" Jiraiya exclaimed with a long whistle of appreciation. Laid out before him on a workbench in the Hokage's private laboratory was an inert and decompressed version of the seal array that had spelled the end of his former teammate. His old Sensei was a genuine seal master, but his expertise paled in comparison to Jiraiya's own. The seal was a quite impressive, though he could see areas of the array he would change if he was going to use it himself; simple refinements that would increase the range of the trigger even further, decrease the pain of the transfer, and lessen the time required for the transfer to take place.

The Hokage nodded at the praise and puffed at his pipe contentedly. "A necessary evil, I'm afraid. That it ended up protecting Sasuke from Orochimaru's machinations as well as eliminating the traitor is mere happenstance." He did not miss the slight note of pain in the Old Man's voice when he casually mentioned Orochimaru's death. Even after everything the asshole had done, their Sensei still cared for him.

The pair sat in silence for a long half hour while Jiraiya closely examined the array. Finally, the younger man sat back and cracked his neck. "I see the problem, Sensei. To make it transferable you have to root it in the first Celestial Gate. Tsunade could tell you for sure if she were still around, but I'd be willing to bet that just being affected by this thing once is enough to cause some lasting damage to the gate. Probably nothing noticeable or that won't naturally heal in two or three years," he finished, confirming the Hokage's own conclusions.

"I suppose it could be hooked into the second gate, if you were really desperate," Jiraiya added, frowning down at one section of the array. "To access the Rest Gate, you would have to pry open the Opening Gate permanently to manage and no one can survive in that state for very long."

Well, Tsunade probably could, but she cheated. Huh…

Now that he thought about it and saw how the Old Man rooted the array's terminus in the Opening Gate, he had a good idea how Tsunade's own Yin Seal functioned and where it kept all that chakra. Clever girl!

"I guess you'll just have to keep that miserable mummified bastard away from the Uchiha kid the old fashioned way."

"As I expected," sighed the old man.

xxxx

Jiraiya accompanied him back to his office in the Hokage Tower, exchanging small talk as they walked. It was convenient to have someone of Jiraiya's skill to give a second opinion on his seal work, but that wasn't the main reason he'd asked the roaming ninja to visit the village. Among other things, his last remaining loyal student was famous, known far and wide to a variety of personages. His reputation among the wealthy nobility and well-to-do gentry, while not exactly savory, carried a lot of weight. The common people still remembered him as a war hero of great renown. With the Chuunin Exam hosted in Konoha this year, Jiraiya represented a feather in the village's cap, so to speak, that would not go unnoticed. It also did not hurt to remind everyone that Konoha still had ninja of frightening power to call upon if needed.

Nonchalantly, Hiruzen brought up an image in the crystal ball sitting on a small pillow in the center of his desktop. How best to broach this subject with his long time student?

"Checking out the hot springs again, eh, Old Man?" asked his student with a leering cackle. Jiraiya was comfortingly predictable sometimes. As if he'd do any such thing with witnesses around.

xxxx

Despite the privacy seals cutting the Hokage's office off from outside observation, the pair of ANBU guards stationed on either side of the door stiffened as they heard a faint shout of, "_What_?"

xxxx

"Was that really necessary, Jiraiya?" Hiruzen asked, glaring at the younger man as he straightened the Hokage hat on his head.

"Stuff it, Old Man. You knew Minato's kid is planning to pick a fight with the Ichibi's jinchuuriki and you didn't do anything to stop it? That kid is ten kinds of crazy!" The Toad Sage paced the room, his long white hair swishing about animatedly. "I checked into it after you told me what happened in Wind Country with Ebisu's team. He's a freaking serial killer with several dozen victims from Suna alone, and those are just the ones I could find out about. I'm confident Naruto is a tough kid, Minato and Kushina wouldn't spit out a weakling, but Gaara of the Sand is a monster!"

"The container _was_ ten kinds of crazy, not is," he interjected firmly, stopping Jiraiya before he could work himself up any further. He was showing a lot of concern for one who hadn't ever been involved in Naruto's life. Maybe it was time to introduce the pair.

"What?" Jiraiya asked, coming to a sudden halt in front of his desk.

"Naruto successfully assassinated Gaara hours ago. I watched him carry it out myself, as I was trying to tell you before you overreacted so spectacularly. It was a neat piece of work, in my opinion. Hyuuga Neji tracked the team down and Naruto made the kill, decapitating Gaara from over a hundred meters away. No one saw or heard anything to link the act to Naruto or his team. In fact, through Team Nine's planning or good fortune, the timely arrival of an Ame team moments after the kill seems to have given Gaara's remaining siblings the idea that the Rain Country ninja are responsible."

"That is a neat piece of work," Jiraiya admitted, once more taking his seat. "Unless they get the body back to Suna in the next few hours, there's no way the Ichibi can be safely extracted and placed in a new container before its seal breaks down."

"The Ichibi will escape and won't begin to reform for years," he agreed. "That's why I was hoping you could do something to stabilize or reinforce the seal, so that it will remain intact long enough to return to Suna."

His former student, now into his fifth decade, could still pull off the wide-eyed look of shock he'd made such frequent use of in his preteen days. "Really, Old Man? I could do it, no problem, but doesn't that seem kind of, uh…" he trailed off, lost for words.

"Appropriate given the amicable alliance the villages of Suna and Konoha have shared since the hostilities of the last great ninja war ended?" Hiruzen finished for bewildered man.

"Look what a mess they made of the jinchuuriki this time! Who's to say the next one won't end up just as insane?"

Hiruzen shrugged the question aside. "I'm certain the Kazekage will have learned a rather harsh lesson, given the loss of his youngest son and the short and bloody life he led. Suna is not economically stable at the moment, Jiraiya, as you must know. The loss of the Ichibi on top of that could prompt them to take desperate measures to survive. I would prefer to return a prized weapon to one of our few true allies. It would further cement ties between the villages and possibly prevent a conflict that could turn into something none of us want to see again in our lifetimes."

Jiraiya nodded helplessly in the face of the Hokage's logic.

"Perhaps, a noted seal master could even accompany the body back to Suna and assist in placing the Ichibi into a new container," he hinted with no small amount of distaste.

Jiraiya grimaced. "I don't want to have any part in creating a jinchuuriki." He crossed his arms over his massive chest and glared obstinately.

"I apologize for making the suggestion." It had been out of bounds, he had to admit. Jiraiya, much like Minato, would not hesitate to bind a Tailed Beast into a child if it meant preventing a rampage that could kill thousands. That didn't mean he was comfortable with doing so for political expediency or the outright creation of a weapon. It was an unpleasant business, forever burdening a young vessel with a demon.

"The Ichibi is the runt of the litter, anyway, as Tailed Beasts go. Suna can keep it in that oversized tea kettle of theirs until a suitable host is found." It was a sad fact that the Ichibi, despite its massive power, could have been contained indefinitely, without stooping to the creation of a jinchuuriki to carry it at all. "I guess I can give them some tips to seal it so that next time they don't end up with a raving maniac, if the monster is even to blame for how the kid turned out." Left unsaid was the typical treatment most jinchuuriki received from their peers, even when it was not warranted.

Before Hiruzen could respond, Jiraiya continued, "Or we could just seal it away ourselves and drop the vessel down a trench in the middle of an ocean somewhere."

Jiraiya's independent investigations had confirmed earlier reports he'd covertly received from Uchiha Itachi, detailing the existence of an organization, Akatsuki, that seemed interested in collecting the Tailed Beasts for use as weapons to conquer the world. Denying a group of S-Rank rogue ninja a weapon like the Ichibi was not a bad idea, but in the grand scheme of things, he believed the disadvantages of such an action outweighed the potential benefits.

"If you wish to intercept the jounin of Suna who is carrying Gaara's remains out of the Forest of Death as we speak, you should be going," Hiruzen responded, making it clear to the white-haired man his feelings on the matter.

Jiraiya stood with a massive sigh and shook his head at the roundabout dismissal. "Fine, fine, if that's the way you want it, Old Man."

"If you would please pass a message along to the Kazekage?" he asked, sliding a wax-sealed scroll across the desk. The wax was stamped with the Hokage's Seal of Office and hidden beneath it was a security seal keyed to the Kazekage's own Seal. There was nothing sensitive contained within, just a short missive conveying his condolences to the Kazekage over the loss of his son. Even in times of grief, the diplomatic forms must be maintained.

xxxx

Naruto was poking around the tower, trying to pass the time. He could have asked Neji to give him a rundown of the entire structure, but that wouldn't have been any fun at all. The top floor was blocked off by a pair of proctors guarding the stairwell entrance, as was a section of the ground floor that had been set aside as an infirmary, not that he would have wanted to go in there anyway. As predicted by Sasame, the mess hall really didn't have anything worth mentioning; all the ration bars you could eat, if you could stomach them.

He had just about consigned himself to a long and boring four days stuck in the tower waiting for other teams to straggle in when he discovered the basement. It was freaking huge!

It had to be some sort of training area. It was too open and empty, with the exception of a gigantic pair of stone hands locked in a ram seal, to be of any other practical use. What was up with the hands, anyway?

The height of the ceiling represented a huge amount of wasted space if this place was meant for storage, unless Konoha planned on housing a Tailed Beast down here. The walkways suspended well above the floor along the length of both longer walls made excellent points to observe or supervise those below.

Sasame had mentioned that the tower had once been a manned outpost of Konoha during wartime. This area would have allowed ninja stationed in the tower to train without exposing themselves to potential enemies or the many, many hazards native to the Forest of Death, though surviving extended periods in the forest was itself a kind of training.

Team Nine could make use of the abundant space to train and stave off boredom for the rest of the exam. They'd just have to be careful not to break anything. It would suck to get this far and end up disqualified because a ninjutsu technique collapsed a wall or turned the floor into lava.

xxxx

ARF!

Another quick survey of the tower after leaving the basement had turned up no other teams or any items of interest. There were a lot of locked doors, hiding who knows what, but he wasn't quite curious enough to bypass them. No telling what could get him in trouble in this place. Being confronted by Akamaru upon returning to the third floor of the tower was a pleasant surprise. It was cool and impressive that a rookie team like Kiba's could acquire the appropriate scroll and reach the tower safely in such a short time.

"Akamaru! Hey, buddy," Naruto said, crouching down to scratch the ninja puppy behind his floppy ears. "So you dragged Kiba's sorry ass all the way through the Forest of Death?"

ARF! Grr! ARF! ARF!

"Really? Wow." Team Eight had indeed stumbled upon the remainder of Gaara's team and ended up assisting the pair of Suna ninja with getting rid of the Ame genin Neji had spotted. They'd even accompanied one another to the tower. It was an awesome outcome, better than Team Nine had planned.

ARF!

Naruto laughed and stood back up. "Yeah, I gotcha. Let's find Kiba and give him some shit."

xxxx

A/N: There will be no prelims in this story. Not enough teams will get through the Forest of Death portion of the exam with both scrolls to make it necessary and I'm tired of reading them over and over, much like the written exam. To write it would hurt my brain.

I was waiting for someone to call me out on Gaara's sand shield. A couple folks did. Yes, I'm aware that much later in the manga, the resurrected Yondaime Kazekage claims that Gaara's sand shield is actually maintained by his mother's love and will to protect him. I call BS on the whole explanation. That's going beyond the typical ninja magic that is chakra and straight into Harry Potter levels of Rowling-style handwavium. For some reason Kishimoto wanted to explain Gaara keeping his sand shield after Shukaku was extracted and went with a totally off the wall excuse instead letting it stay a skill he might have learned to use over the course of his lifetime possessed by the beast. After the extraction, it wasn't the Ichibi directing it any longer, but Gaara himself, consciously and unconsciously, as a voluntary or reflexive action. Sadly, he's dead now, so it's a non-issue.

A similar case, but with Naruto inheriting Kushina's chakra chains and being protected by them would make for an interesting story. It would even make a certain amount of sense, given it could be an inheritable Uzumaki quality and he does have a portion of her chakra sealed inside of him…

Please remember to review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated and help keep me on task.

Published: 7/6/2012


	32. Chapter 32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

xxxx

Chapter Thirty Two:

xxxx

The Old Man's speech would have been more interesting if Sensei had not already laid bare the dual purposes of the Chuunin Exam to Naruto and his teammates. Beyond a venue for promoting genin to chuunin, it served as substitute warfare between villages and free advertising. The system seemed to work somehow, though Naruto couldn't help but think it was an awfully random way to go about playing mock war. Then again, no one had ever said that war was an orderly affair.

Given that eight of the sixteen teams who entered training ground forty four for the survival portion of the Chuunin Exam were from foreign nations, Naruto expected at least one or two of them to make it to the end, even considering that Team Nine had disqualified one Suna team and indirectly led to an Ame team also being eliminated. That did not appear to be the case, however. Whether the fighting had been especially intense and bloody throughout the Forest of Death or the teams just hadn't been able to find the appropriate scroll to match their own – it was a big freaking forest and not everyone had a teammate like Neji to trivialize the search and seizure aspect of the exam – looking up now at the large screen embedded in the wall of the tower's basement, all he could see were Konoha teams.

Half the names on the board were rookie genin, graduates of the class that would have been Naruto's if he'd not been withdrawn from the academy. Team Nine, experience aside, were considered little more than rookies themselves. Naruto did not recognize the names of the final team, they were all much older than his contemporaries, but the Konoha forehead protector was unmistakable on the brow of every genin now standing in the massive underground room. Home ground advantage was one thing, a total shut out of foreign teams was another all together.

Even as a citizen of Konoha and a member of its ninja forces, Naruto wouldn't have been totally incredulous if someone claimed the Chuunin Exam had been unfairly fixed to eliminate foreigners.

How would having all the tournament participants come from Konoha affect attendance of the approaching tournament? Didn't that kind of invalidate the mock warfare aspect? Fortunately, that sort of stuff was for the Old Man to worry about. When Naruto received the Hokage hat, then he'd be stuck dealing with logistics and political considerations. Now was the time to make a name for himself.

The two columns of names began to blur in response to a signal given by the Hokage. The randomization took only a moment, resulting in the initial six tournament matchups appearing one after the other.

_Uchiha Sasuke versus Haruno Sakura_

Sasuke slumped in his wheelchair, apparently already sensing the piercing shriek of horror that was about to emanate from the pink-haired girl who'd wheeled him into the gathering of genin. Naruto, and most others present, winced in sympathy, the Uchiha boy was less than a meter away from Sakura and she had a decent set of lungs on her. At least Sasuke had an easy fight for the first round, unless Sakura had made significant strides in the past couple years. The girl he'd once sorta maybe had a little crush on was very intelligent, if Naruto recalled her academic scores correctly, but she'd been a poor combatant in the academy. She was very pretty…

_Higurashi Tenten versus Tsurugi Misumi_

His bun-haired teammate perked up and cast a glance toward the trio of older genin, wondering which she would fight. Naruto wouldn't assume any of the older genin was pushovers, even if they seemed old for their rank. While age did not necessarily equate to skill, it was a good indicator, and additional years of experience could only be an advantage.

_Uzumaki Naruto versus Hyuuga Hinata_

Huh. Naruto turned to regard Hinata more closely. While hanging out with Kiba and Akamaru over the past several days, he'd tried to interact with the Inuzuka's teammates. Shino was a genin of very few words and more uptight than Sensei, if that was possible. Hinata appeared to have some sort of nervous disorder. He didn't really remember much of the Hyuuga girl from his time in the academy, she'd never made an effort to stand out and he'd been distracted by other matters. The little time he'd spent around her in the tower revealed that Hinata was a stuttering, self-conscious girl prone to frequent blushing and the occasional fainting spell. Now, the girl was deathly pale and trembling. She wasn't that terrified of fighting him, right? What in hell had that asshole Kiba been telling her?

_Rock Lee versus Hyuuga Neji_

As was typical for his Hyuuga teammate, the boy didn't noticeably react upon learning of his opponent. Rock Lee, on the other hand, was having paroxysms of joy. By far the oddest looking of the genin present, the green-clad kid with his bowl cut hair and impressively large eyebrows, completed his celebration with a backward somersault and a pronouncement about his "_Youth_" and how it would "_Shine Forth!_". Lee was the kid from Neji and Tenten's graduating class who'd been apprenticed to Might Guy for the past eighteen months. According to Sensei, Guy was one of the most powerful jounin in the village. His student was not likely to be a slouch.

_Yakushi Kabuto versus Inuzuka Kiba_

Akamaru barked once, expressing general enthusiasm and a desire to prove himself, and Kiba muttered something that Naruto couldn't quite understand when he learned he'd be fighting another of the older genin. Naruto had a feeling it was the grey-haired guy with glasses, going by the slight smirk on the man's face as he eyed his younger opponent.

_Aburame Shino versus Akado Yoroi_

The heir to the Aburame clan, true to form, showed as little reaction to the announcement as Neji had.

xxxx

The small herd of successful genin was led from the basement arena by an exam proctor, this one a sickly looking fellow afflicted with a persistent cough.

As Sensei predicted, they would have a month to train in between the survival and tournament portions of the Chuunin Exam. That was a relief because Naruto needed time to work out a strategy. He had no doubt that he would end up fighting one of his teammates in the next part of the exam. Not only had they seen everything he could do, and vice versa, he had no desire to hurt either of them. Actually, he didn't want to hurt any of his fellow Konoha genin. There were differing degrees of _hurt_, though, and despite medical ninjutsu being just short of miraculous in its effects, very little of his arsenal wasn't outright crippling, if not lethal.

During the past few years spent developing and refining his skills, Naruto had not put any thought into how he would fight allies. If he wanted to guarantee a promotion to chuunin, his performance would need to be spectacular. Hmm…

"I can't believe you, Chouji! We missed the deadline!" exclaimed the unmistakable voice of Yamanaka Ino from down a side corridor. "Why would you eat a black and purple mushroom?"

There was more shouting, but they were moving out of range and the murmuring of the group quickly drowned out Ino's scathing reprimands of her teammate. It was a relief just to know that Chouji and Shikamaru had survived the Forest of Death, even if they wouldn't be advancing further into the competition. To be honest, and he'd never mention the possibility around the Yamanaka girl, Naruto wouldn't put it past Shikamaru and Chouji to sabotage their promotion. Neither was all that eager to become chuunin and he knew for a fact that if not for threats of maternal violence on the Nara's part and an act of outright food bribery in the case of the Akimichi, his two friends would not have elected to enter the Chuunin Exam.

Kiba snickered at the situation the males of Team Ten found themselves in. "Yapping bitch should be happy her team didn't pass. She'd get torn apart in the tournament."

Naruto sighed at the boy's crassness. It was one thing to talk like that when there weren't any girls around, but another entirely when Hinata was standing right next to the boy and Tenten, who had a definite problem with females being disrespected, was only meters away. When there was no immediate retaliation, he figured the Hyuuga heiress was just too nice to wallop her deserving teammate. Maybe Tenten just hadn't noticed.

_ZAP_

"Ack!" Kiba yelped as a miniscule bolt of lightning arced down from the ceiling and connected with the top of his head.

Or maybe Tenten had noticed after all.

xxxx

Meeting with their Sensei after being escorted out of the Forest of Death, Team Nine was treated to one of the jounin's rare smiles.

"Congratulations, students. I've received word that you three broke the old exam completion record, a time that has stood unchallenged for two decades, by nearly five hours." Left unmentioned was the side mission the team had appointed for itself. Sensei had not approved, despite Gaara's blatant attempt to murder them all without cause. Naruto wouldn't be surprised if the matter was never brought up again, by Sensei or Team Nine.

"I'd say we're awesome for kicking ass and breaking the record," responded Naruto as he and his teammates followed Sensei, "but it was too easy. Having Neji along for something like that test is practically cheating." Not that he minded cheating. They were ninja, after all, and the byakugan was just another tool in their arsenal. It sure had worked well during the written test.

"Nah, we're still awesome," said Tenten, flashing Naruto a victory sign. Laughing, the two genin high-fived, prompting Neji to roll his white eyes at their antics.

With Sensei in the lead, Team Nine followed the jounin through the streets of Konoha, sedately making their way to his home. Along the way, they chatted amicably.

It turned out that Naruto had been correct in his assumption that the basement in the central tower in the Forest of Death had once been used for training, though that was many decades ago. In more recent times, it had been repurposed to occasionally serve as a combat venue during Konoha-based Chuunin Exams. If Team Ten hadn't been delayed in arriving at the tower, there would have likely been enough genin to justify holding a preliminary tournament to weed out the weaker contestants before the big event next month.

"Such an occurrence is rare, though not unheard of," responded Sensei to Naruto's question about only Konoha teams advancing to the finals. "In any given exam, depending on the number of participants and the manner in which the host village conducts the trials, it's expected that two-thirds to three-quarters of finalists will be from the host village itself. Each of the major hidden villages occupies a specific geographic niche that favors those most accustomed to the environment; Konoha has its forests, Suna the desert, Kumo the mountains, and so on. Naturally, this slants the results of the survival tests accordingly."

Well, so long as a real war wasn't going to break out because the people in charge were denied their entertainment, Naruto didn't mind.

Just because Team Nine could be competing against one another in the coming weeks, Sensei had no intention of neglecting any of their training. He was willing to cut back mandatory team training to four hours per day, barring the usual extenuating factors. He was also encouraging them to seek out specialized instruction and would set aside two hours per genin per day that would be straight one on one time if they felt they needed additional practice. Sensei would not be giving any of his genin advice, hints, techniques, or anything else specifically geared toward defeating one of their teammates, not that any of them had asked. That was Sensei for you.

xxxx

"You want to…forfeit?" Kakashi-sensei repeated, gazing sideways at Sakura with his one visible eye. Between the man's mask and the crooked forehead protector that covered his implanted sharingan eye, it was always difficult to tell what Team Seven's commander was thinking unless he made exaggerated expressions. This time, even with his face obscured, it was clear by tone of voice alone that Kakashi-sensei was puzzled.

"Yes, sir," she said with a determined nod. Her pink hair shifted under the makeshift scarf she was using to hide the horrible damage inflicted by Sasuke's battle with Orochimaru. As soon as she could schedule a visit with a stylist, she would at least be able to get it evened out. Ino would be absolutely delighted to see her once long locks reduced to a shadow of their former glory. She sighed and forced herself to stop worrying about her hair, lest she start crying again. That would be embarrassing in front of her beloved. "I can't fight Sasuke!"

Just thinking about the boy made her giddy, totally erasing the concerns she'd harbored about her ruined hair only moments earlier. He was letting her push his wheelchair! Who knows, if she played her cards right, maybe he'd let her stay over at his place and nurse him back to health. In his injured state, she would have to help him with everything, of course. The sponge baths alone…

_Focus, Sakura!_ She insisted mentally. Now wasn't the time to fantasize.

"Why not?" asked the jounin, though most of his attention was turned toward one of his disgusting orange books.

"Isn't it obvious, Kakashi-sensei? Sasuke is still badly injured from his battle with Orochimaru! I couldn't bring myself to fight him in his weakened condition. What if he got hurt again?" The Uchiha boy had been confined to his bed for days on end, his body ravaged by the insidious poison injected into him by the rogue ninja. Sasuke still wasn't able to walk more than a few steps and the medical ninja who had discharged him from the infirmary insisted that he not attempt to use chakra for at least another week, so heavily damage were his chakra coils.

xxxx

"Weak?" Sasuke snapped. He'd only been half paying attention to Sakura's exchange with Kakashi. Initially, he assumed she didn't want to fight him because she knew just how unimpressive her skills were in comparison to his own. When Orochimaru attacked, at least he'd put up a fight against the bastard, while she'd been swept aside in the first moments of the encounter. To hear that she thought him too weak to fight her, the thought of it alone was ludicrous.

"You think I'm weak?" he repeated, clenching the armrests of the wheelchair in his fists with enough force that they began to creak in a protest of stressed metal.

Fucking wheelchair. It mocked Sasuke with its very presence and clear necessity, reminding him that his sole attempt at walking on his own had resulted in an embarrassing stumble and fall in front of Kakashi, two medical ninja he did not know by name, and his pink-haired teammate.

"No, Sasuke, I-" she began to reply, but he cut her off.

"Save your sentiments for someone who cares!" Sasuke tore his fists away from the armrests and moved to grip the wheels themselves. It caused shooting pains to erupt from his shoulder that lanced down his left arm and into his fingertips, and his ribs ached terribly, but there was a great deal of satisfaction in hearing Sakura's quiet cry of protest as he propelled the chair forward under his own power, tearing it away from her control.

"Wait, I'm sorry, Sasuke. Please don't go." Her apology and entreaties only served as motivation to pump his arms harder to put greater distance between himself and the girl.

"Let him go, Sakura. I'll check up on him later," was Kakashi's response, apparently silencing Sakura. Continuing to guide the wheelchair toward his apartment in the mostly abandoned Uchiha district, less than a minute passed before he could no longer hear them following behind.

He was hardly paying attention, between the pain in his shoulder and arm and the anger at his useless teammate for insinuating that he was too weak to fight, so did not notice the lines of red-rimmed black snaking their way across his flesh, originating from the location where only days earlier he'd been bitten by Orochimaru.

xxxx

A/N: Holy crap, it took me a week to update! Sorry about that, folks. Between going out of town and other factors, I've just not had the time or energy to sit down and crank out another chapter; I'm dedicated, but not quite enough to try to belt out a chapter using my Kindle. I was really hoping to have the first major story arc, and the Chuunin Exam along with it, completed soon. With my current distractions, that might not happen before classes resume next month. Don't worry, though, I'm not abandoning the story. One week without an update seemed to worry some people… ^_^

One quick note on the relative strength of Naruto and his teammates in this story; yes, they're powerful for their age. Are they "super" powered? No, I don't believe so. Let's just say they've advanced more quickly than most of their peers. It's going to be difficult to power them up enough so that they're in the same league with the latter types of opposition that is introduced in canon following the time skip. Those who've complained about this aspect of the story aren't likely reading any longer, so it's not much of an issue. To everyone else, I hope you continue to enjoy reading along.

For those who have asked, Naruto does not have any special bloodline or Kyuubi-related ability that lets him converse with Akamaru. His ability to communicate with the dog is just author's fiat. Anyone else ever wanted to know what their pet was thinking? Since this isn't a "boy and his dog" type story, I've just borrowed Kiba's for fun.

Please remember to review. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated and help keep me on task.

Published: 7/13/2012 - [It's Friday the 13th! I should have left this chapter hanging on a major cliffhanger]


End file.
